A Trick of the Light
by Lights Frost
Summary: His greatest fear was Death and Death wore many hats. But Death wasn't a force, Death was a keeper. A sentry. Because he feared Death he didn't know that Death could be gentle, or kind. So Death became exactly what he feared most. Death became darkness and anguish. Death became despair. Death became powerful. And Death became greedy.
1. When the Moon Calls

**So I've very recently fallen in love with RotG and I had this idea that I'm going to try out. I probably won't update very often and chapters will tend to be short and the start is probably going to be a little slow but here goes nothing! I don't own anything to do with RotG and that's the only disclaimer I'm putting in here. D'you even really need disclaimers? I mean, this is fanfiction, of course you'll be using someone else's content - that's the entire point.**

* * *

"I just have to tell you, it feels _great_ to be believed in!" Jack grinned at Tooth. They were out collecting teeth, not because they needed to, just because Tooth wanted to be out in the field again and Jack had been bored. Ever since Jamie had believed in Jack and the Guardians had defeated Pitch, Jack had spent more of his time convincing children he was real. It usually just took the same few tricks, writing on windowpanes, snowing in bedrooms, unexplained floating snowballs. He had felt as though he was falling into a routine and had volunteered to help Tooth in order to escape it.

Tooth smiled at him from the other side of the sleeping child's bed. "I'm really glad you're happy, Jack." Her eyes got a glossy sheen and she leaned closer, a look of amazement on her face. "And you have such _beautiful_ teeth…"

And that was the downside of spending time with Tooth: her obsession with teeth. Well, more her obsession with _his _teeth.

He yawned hugely. "Well, would you look at the time? It's getting really late and I've got a snowstorm to cause in a few hours. I should really get going."

Tooth nodded absentmindedly, her attention back on the sleeping child. "Goodnight, Jack."

"Bye, Tooth." He tipped an imaginary hat at her, grabbed his staff and leaped out the window, allowing the wind to carry him home.

* * *

It was cold outside, colder than she'd expected. She pulled her coat tighter around herself and trudged on, guided by the bright light of the moon. It couldn't be much farther now.

She'd first seen the lights when she was too little to understand them, glimmering in the air like a curtain. Everyone had laughed when she asked if they were made by dragons. Even she didn't know why she thought dragons made the northern lights, it had just made sense to her young mind. And now that she was seventeen years old, she still held onto that belief that there was more than meets the eye in everything. She still believed in magic.

That was why she was out in the snow in the dead of night. She wanted to go into the woods where the houses of the little town wouldn't block her view of the Northern Lights. Usually she would just watch them from her bedroom but tonight the radiance of the moon drew her out. She wanted to climb to the highest limbs of a tree and watch the dancing colors for hours.

Soon she came across a frozen pond and her eyes found the perfect tree and lost no time in scrambling up it. The night was cloudless and she felt as though she could reach out and touch the stars, as though she were infinite. She no longer felt the cold. A gentle breeze tussled her long, dark hair and she felt at peace as she never had in her entire life.

She was the oldest orphan at the orphanage with only one year left before she was released into the world, entirely on her own. She had lived in the orphanage since she was four years old; no one had ever considered adopting the dark haired child who lived in a world of her own. And so she had grown up an outsider. No one was cruel to her, but she was never truly accepted anywhere and she had been content to simply look on.

She preferred to observe the world than interact with it. She was one of those who always looked for the magic in everything. And oftentimes, she found it.


	2. Jack and Lights

**I think it's safe to say that I'm just really excited about this story...**

* * *

The moon was still up when Jack arrived at the pond where his first memory of himself had been. It was quiet and peaceful but he could sense that something was… off. He laughed at himself for using Bunny's phrase when Sophie had been at the Warren. His home wasn't nearly as impressive as any of the other Guardians, but it was still his home and he was still protective of it.

Then he noticed the footprints, edging around the side of the pond and to the base of the largest tree. There were no tracks leading away. He approached the trunk of the tree slowly, curious but not apprehensive about who the tracks could belong to. He knew he could rule out the other Guardians but he didn't know who else would visit him.

Jack cast a glance up at the moon. "What is going on here?" But the moon didn't answer. He hadn't expected it to.

He jumped lightly into the lower branches of the tree and peered up. There was something above him, but he couldn't tell what. He let out a breath and a light breeze twined around the tree, up to the figure, blowing out streams of long hair like a banner.

"Well, good to know it's a… something," he muttered to himself, realizing his test wouldn't've been helpful no matter what. With a shrug, Jack leapt up again so that he was even with the figure but on the branch behind it.

From there he was able to establish that his visitor was a human girl. Not a little girl, but a full grown one. She was about his own height with very long, very dark hair. Her attention was directed towards the aurora borealis and she paid him no mind.

"Probably can't see me," he thought to himself. It made him nervous to have a human girl there, in his home. Especially since she couldn't see or hear him.

"It's beautiful," she murmured, her voice hardly more than a sigh but Jack was able to hear her clearly.

He leaned against his staff. "It sure is."

The girl screamed and jumped, twisting around to look at him. He had a brief glimpse of large green eyes before she fell out of sight.

Without thinking, Jack leaped after her, catching her moments before she hit the icy ground.

"Careful," he cautioned, gently landing on the earth.

She stared at him, apparently unable to speak. It was similar to the look Jamie had had the first time he saw Jack. For some reason, that expression on this girl's face was more intriguing. He stared at her quizzically for a moment longer before he realized he still had his arms around her and abruptly let go, stepping back a few paces.

"W-who are you?" she managed at length.

He grinned. She couldn't imagine how happy he was to see her – _she could see him!_ "I'm Jack Frost."

The girl shook her head in disbelief. "I don't believe it…"

That made him smile all the more. "Of course you do, otherwise you wouldn't see me!"

"I _knew _you were real!" she cried, green eyes shining.

Without realizing it, he had made it start to snow over where they stood.

"No one will ever believe me," she told him. She reached up with one hand as though to touch his face but thought better of it, letting her arm fall to her side as she blushed furiously. "You're really not what I expected."

Jack narrowed his eyes at the girl, unsure of what she meant. He planted his staff in the snow and leaped on top of it so that he was perched like a bird. "Oh?"

She shrugged and looked away from him. "I thought you'd be… older."

"How old do you think I am?"

The girl glanced at him. "Nineteen? At most?"

He smirked. "I was nineteen once, three hundred years ago."

"Three hundred?" she echoed softly. "You're three hundred and nineteen years old?"

Jack shrugged. "Give or take. I don't really keep track anymore."

"I guess that's understandable after three hundred years… D'you even know when your birthday is anymore?" she asked but then quickly shook her head. "What a strange question. Sorry, I've never met a, well, a legend before."

"You think I'm a legend?" Jack laughed. "That's adorable. And no, I don't exactly."

The girl blinked slowly and shook some of the fluffy snowflakes out of her hair, giggling. Jack was confused; he hadn't said anything particularly funny for her to giggle about. It didn't make any sense. She didn't make any sense.

"Why are you doing that?"

She let out a snort of laughter. "Don't you see how bizarre this is for me? I go for a walk in the woods one night and who should I find but _Jack Frost! _Most people don't even believe you exist! Everyone thought I was crazy." Suddenly her smile vanished and she stared at Jack with a look of questioning sadness. "Am I crazy? Or is this all just a dream?"

He looked back at her as intensely as she looked at him. Could it be a dream? _His _dream? Was it possible Sandy had put him to sleep? But then he thought of her falling out of the tree and his rushing to catch her. The falling sensation would've woken either of them up. "It's real," he promised.

She looked both relieved and hopeful, with only a trace of doubt left in her luminous eyes. He wanted to get rid of the doubt so in one fluid motion, he alighted from his perch and landed softly before her. Holding up one finger to show her to wait, he scooped up a handful of snow and sculpted a small seed. He grabbed one of her hands and placed the snow-seed in her open palm before breathing on it lightly. While she held it, the seed sprouted and grew into a long stemmed rose. Her eyes were wide with wonder and she gently touched one of the rose's frosted petals.

"It's cold," she whispered.

"It's snow, of course it's cold. I _am _Jack Frost. You didn't expect it to be warm, did you?"

She shook her head.

"What's your name, anyways?" he asked. "And what are you doing out here?"

The girl looked away from the rose to gaze up at the moon and then the Northern Lights. "I came out to see the lights."

"Is this a habit of yours? I've never seen you out here before."

She smiled shyly at him. "Usually I stay inside but tonight I just wanted to be closer. Is that weird? Probably."

"Nah," he said dismissively, gently taking the rose from her hands after noticing how badly she was shaking from the cold. "Sometimes it's just nice to be alone."

"Is that your way of telling me to leave?" she asked.

"What?! No! No, no, no, no, no! I was just," he cleared his throat, fiddling with the rose for thinking time, "trying to relate. I mean, that's why I'm here right now. I didn't want to be around the people I usually am."

"Were you hanging out with Frosty the Snowman?"

"Um, no. Actually, he's not real."

Her eyes widened. "That's disappointing."

"Very. Well, I suppose I could make him real," Jack mused. He glanced at his staff and considered the possibility. "But actually, I was with the Tooth Fairy."

"She's real, too?!" The girl looked as though she could burst with excitement. She seemed to almost be glowing.

Jack was amused. "Yeah, she is. Probably a bit more feathered than you would imagine." He wasn't entirely sure why he was telling her the things he was. He still didn't know her name.

"I haven't," she said simply. Then added once she caught his confused look, "Imagined her. I haven't imagined really any of the 'mythological' figures I believe in just in case I ever saw them and couldn't recognize them because they weren't the way I'd pictured them in my mind."

"But you said I wasn't what you pictured," Jack pointed out, stooping to plant the frozen rose in the pile of snow that was accumulating between them. "So you must have had something in mind."

"A general idea," she admitted. "Nothing more. I just thought you'd have to be, well, older."

Jack glanced up at the moon. "You know, it's getting late. You should probably go home. You're shaking and I can't do anything to warm you up. I'll just make you colder."

She nodded but didn't move, her eyes directed back towards the Northern Lights again.

"Sorry, but what is your name again?" Jack asked, drawing her attention back to the ground.

"Alice," she answered. "I've been called Borealis a lot, though."

He laughed. "Let me guess, Aurora Borealis?"

She beamed at him. "It's no secret I like the lights."

"Hmm…" He considered her. With her bright eyes and quick smiles, she didn't seem to him like an "Alice." "Then I'll call you 'Lights.' I think it suits you better than Alice."

Lights smiled. "So…" she hesitated. "Does this mean I'll see you again?"

Jack was looking up at the moon once more. "I, I don't know." When he turned towards her again, she was already gone. One corner of his mouth turned up. "Goodnight, Lights."

Lights didn't think she would be able to fall asleep for excitement (and cold). She was trembling as she climbed under the covers, her hands and feet icy cold. Her teeth were chatting terribly but she was smiling. _She was right_. They were real! Magic did exist!


	3. Skating Lessons

The next morning, Lights was certain meeting Jack Frost had been a dream. With a sigh, she rolled over and glanced at her alarm clock. It was six in the morning. She had plenty of time to go back to sleep before school and she had every intention of doing so. It had been such a lovely dream, maybe she could get back to it.

It was still rather dark so she almost didn't notice the frosted design on her window. It looked like a rose, she realized with a jolt. Now fully awake, she sprang out of bed and padded over to her window. Sure enough, there in the frost was the design of a rose… and behind the rose design was…

"AHHH!" she screamed and leaped away from the window and the two blue eyes staring back at her from the other side. Quickly recovering, she ran to the window and threw it open. "_What are you doing?_"

Jack smirked at her. "Making sure I had the right place. I was afraid you wouldn't think I was real."

She stared at him. There was no denying that he was there, floating nonchalantly just outside her window. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?" He rolled his staff in his hands, creating a small snow flurry.

"Well, that snow stuff and the whole floating thing."

Jack shrugged. "I just do. Anyway, I was just stopping to make sure you didn't stop believing and to wish you a happy snow day. Bye, Lights!" And with a gust of wind he was gone.

Lights closed her eyes briefly, feeling the cold air on her face. It was real. He was real. When she opened her eyes, she was beaming. Thoughts of going back to bed were entirely gone and she rushed to get ready to go outside.

She pulled on jeans and a pink and yellow hoodie and rushed down to the kitchen. Staff members were already up, making breakfast for all of the kids. On the notice board someone had already written that school was called off Friday, November second due to snow. Lights grinned when she saw the message.

No one said anything to her as she pulled on her boots and hurried outside to the rickety old shed that housed the play equipment. As it was a snow day right before a weekend, she planned to spend it in the best ways she could think of. And one of the first items on her list was to find a pair of ice skates that were about her size and go back to the pond from the night before.

* * *

On the third day of every month (except if that day happened to fall on Easter Sunday), there was a Guardians meeting usually held at the North Pole. However, after Pitch had tried to make all of the children stop believing, North had decided to go all out the following Christmas to make up for it and so his workshop was extremely hectic in November. As he would say to anyone who would listen, "only fifty-three days for billions of toys." Because of the chaotic Christmas preparations, he had requested that the meetings be held elsewhere for a while. Since Tooth Palace was always busy, Bunnymund was the second option until he pointed out that, being underground, the Man in the Moon wouldn't be able to appear if he wanted to. And as the Sandman didn't have a home the other Guardians could go, Jack was left to host the meetings.

Which was why, after causing a snow day, he was at the pond, trying to think of what he was going to do with his company instead of causing his usual mischief. It also didn't help that a plethora of kids would be out later to play in the snow. He probably should've planned a better time for a snow day…

And he probably shouldn't've bothered going to find Lights…

He really didn't know why he did that.

Jack dismissed thoughts of Lights and went back to contemplating the problem before him. He had less than twenty-four hours to figure out what he was going to do with a group of legends. He smiled to himself when he'd used Lights' term.

And there she was again, popping back into his thoughts.

He scowled at the moon, just faintly visible. "I can feel you laughing at me."

The moon didn't respond. Like usual.

Returning back to his thoughts, he wandered out onto the iced over pond, dragging his staff along with him and absentmindedly. If he was being honest, he really didn't want to host the Guardians' meetings. His home wasn't as remote as everyone else's or as accommodating. North had elves to make everyone feel comfortable. Even Bunny had those adorable eggs everywhere! And what did he have? A handful of trees and a rock outcrop. Charming.

From nearby, there came a rather loud rustle followed by peals of laughter.

"What? Having fun without me?" Jack muttered to himself before dashing off to investigate.

He found a small gully and sitting in the bottom of it, laughing outrageously at nothing, was none other than –

"Lights!"

She looked up at him and her face turned bright red. "I swear I'm not following you!"

He arranged a smirk on his face. "Is that so?"

"It is so!" she insisted, standing up and brushing snow off herself. "I wanted to go skating before everyone got up and then I slipped and now here I am!" She held her arms out and spun around, losing her balance in the deep snow and nearly falling over again.

"How can you skate if you can't even walk?"

Lights turned somehow even redder. "I can't really. That's why I came out here so early, so I could practice and no one'd see me fall."

"Too late for that," he pointed out, watching her struggle to get out of the gully. "Here." He held his staff out towards her. Once she grabbed it, he pulled. Unfortunately, he misjudged her weight and used way more force than was necessary causing him to fall over and her to land on top of him.

Blue eyes met green and they were both perfectly somber for a moment before they burst out laughing.

"You're as bad as I am!" Lights exclaimed as she struggled to her feet, somehow kneeing him in the stomach in the process.

"Nope," he wheezed, losing all of his breath. "You're definitely worse."

"I'm sorry!" she said in a panicky voice, pulling him to his feet and brushing the snow off of him. "I'm kind of awful about balance sometimes. Not all the time though, which doesn't really make any sense. I can go weeks without tripping at all and then all of a sudden it's like I've forgotten how to walk and it's contagious or something because once I trip then everyone else manages to trip. Of course, that might just be that they're tripping over me so I guess then it's all just me. All my fault. Erm, yeah."

"Do you always talk this much?" Jack asked her, laughing at her embarrassed expression and then walking away.

"No!" she cried, hurrying after him, skates in hand. "I usually don't talk at all. I usually just read books but I've never met anyone I read a book about before, much less anyone who's well, immortal or magical or a myth. I find it fascinating. Whoop!" She tripped over a partially covered tree root, stumbling but not falling.

"Watch out for those trees," he warned sarcastically. "They really jump out at you."

"Ha, ha, ha," she said dryly. "You are absolutely hilarious."

By now they had both arrived at the pond. The sun was up farther and the clearing was considerably brighter than just a few moments ago. Still grumbling to herself, Lights plopped down on a tree root and worked on exchanging her boots for skates.

Jack decided to ignore her and go back to puzzling over his impending visitors.

Lights carefully pulled herself onto her feet, wobbling unsteadily on the skates. She realized how far she was from the pond and regretted her decision to sit on that particular root. With a sigh, she slowly began picking her way towards the ice, losing her balance twice in the process. Jack saw her fall both times but pretended he hadn't – for her sake.

He kept an eye on her out of his peripheral vision once she got to the ice, glad he'd refrozen the lake just a few minutes before since he knew very well how dangerous thin ice could be. She didn't seem to be doing too badly, he thought at first but then couldn't help wincing as she fell… again… and again… and again. And there she stayed, lying spread-eagle on the ice, growling up at the sky.

Jack slid over to her. "You all right, Lights?"

"Never better," she mumbled. Her dark hair was fanned out around her on the ice. "I'm just taking a break. Making a snow angel, ya know?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "C'mon, get up. I'll help you."

"Don't you have stuff to freeze?" she asked, but took his proffered hand and allowed him to pull her back to her feet. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it, Lights. Now take the end of this," he held the staff out to her again, "and I'll just tow you around. You just focus on keeping your balance, all right?"

She nodded. "But not too fast, Jack, okay?"

He smirked and slowly began walking backwards, pulling her along slowly for a while at first. Then, without warning he took off, flitting over the ice as quickly as he could, spinning her around until she lost her grip, but not her balance. She was racing in straight line directly towards a very large rock.

"Turn, Lights! Turn!" he shouted at her, afraid that she didn't know how.

With a little shriek, she turned magnificently, bits of snow flying from the blades of her skates. Soon she was laughing, gliding smoothly along and Jack came up by her side.

"Not bad," he commented.

She gave him a stern look. "You don't know what 'not too fast' means, do you?"

He grinned and she laughed freely, eyes closing for just a brief moment. The toe of her skate caught on a small stone on the ice and she went tumbling, knocking into Jack.

"Easy does it," he advised, steadying her with his hands on her shoulders.

Lights looked into Jack's eyes for a moment. For the personification of cold, she thought his eyes were awfully warm. Before she could put her thought into words, he had let her go and she was skating on her own again.

And then she realized that the only way she knew how to stop was to fall down.

"Jack?" she called, circling him. "How do I stop?"

He laughed. "Lights, you sure are entertaining. You just have to kind of, slow yourself down until you lose momentum-"

She crashed headlong into a snow bank.

"Or that works too."

Lights didn't mind that Jack laughed at her; she knew she looked ridiculous on skates. Seventeen years old and completely unable to balance on her own. Fortunately, the snow was new and fluffy so her multiple crashes weren't too painful though she was glad it was still early and no one else was around yet.

Jack walked over to her and pulled her out of the bank, setting her on her feet. "You'll get it eventually."

She smiled brightly. "Key word: eventually."

"No one ever said you were a natural or anything," Jack pointed out, giving her a little push and causing her to slide backward a few feet. "But you're not entirely hopeless."

"'Not entirely hopeless,'" she echoed. "Thank you for summing that up."

"Is that sarcasm I hear?" Jack asked, leaping onto his staff. "You really ought to be nicer to your friends, Lightbulb."

"Lightbulb? Is that really what you just called me? Isn't one nickname enough?" But despite her tone, Lights was grinning. He'd said they were friends.


	4. Pitch Black

**Oh, look. A chapter where things actually happen! I'd just like to say, I'd love it if you were to review! Pretty please?**

* * *

Eventually, more kids started arriving at the pond to skate. Jack retreated to the lowest branches of the same tree he'd met Lights in so that none of them might accidentally run through him. It was still a terrible feeling. From there, he kept an eye out for Jamie or any of his friends while keeping the other eye on Lights. If he were completely honest with himself, he feared for the safety of any and all those around her.

But she wasn't doing nearly as badly as she had when she'd first started. She had finally mastered stopping without falling down and Jack was proud of her. He couldn't help but notice how few people actually stopped and spoke to her and he heard one or two call her "Boring Alice." He didn't miss the similarity to "Borealis." He couldn't understand it; she had done nothing to them.

Lights always heard the things people would say about her, but she never bothered to listen. She knew that as an orphan she didn't have as nice of clothes as other kids and she knew that she was extremely shy and she knew that others probably wouldn't understand her so she didn't try to make them. Instead, she took off her ice skates, put her boots back on, and started walking back into town.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Lights turned to see Jack running after her.

"Where're you going?" he asked her once he'd caught up.

"To get some hot chocolate," she said simply. Then added, "You can come if you want."

He deliberated. "I _do_ have things I'm _supposed_ to be doing…"

"But?" she supplied, guessing his train of thought.

"But," he smirked, "I don't usually do what I'm supposed to so why start now?"

Lights grinned. "Excellent point. However, if we go to the café and no one can see you they'll all think I'm crazy if I sit there and talk to myself… How do you feel about hot chocolate to go?"

Jack leaned his staff against his shoulder and put one hand in his sweatshirt pouch. "Sounds great."

* * *

"Don't burn yourself," Jack warned as Lights went to take a sip of her cocoa.

She stopped abruptly and gazed warily at her beverage. "Maybe I should let it cool?"

"Give it here," Jack ordered, holding out his hand. She passed over her drink and he pealed the plastic lid off of it. He blew on it and immediately the top frosted over. "Now just break the ice and you should be good."

"Thanks," Lights said, sipping her now tolerably hot chocolate.

The strange pair was sitting on the edge of a still fountain in the park. Lights had picked the spot hoping it would be mostly deserted and anyone who saw her but not Jack wouldn't necessarily realize she was talking to what seemed to be nothing.

"How's yours?" she asked, casting a sidelong look at Jack.

Jack turned his paper cup upside down and a solid cylinder of chocolaty goodness landed solidly on the ground. "Frozen."

Lights giggled and took another sip of her cocoa, staring off at a snow covered tree nearby. "So is this what you normally do in a day?"

Jack shook his head before he realized she wasn't looking at him. "No, usually I cause unexpected snow storms, start snow ball fights, cause problems. I do what I want."

"Then why aren't you doing that today?"

She was looking at him now and he met her gaze evenly. "Because I've decided to take it upon myself to be a good friend. That and the other Guardians are coming tonight."

"The other Guardians?"

"Oh, you know. The Big Four."

Lights laughed. "Sorry, I'm not up to speed on the mythological people vernacular."

"I guess not. The Big Four: Santa Claus, Sandman, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny."

"What are they like?" Her face was lit up with curiosity.

"Well, I guess I'll start with Santa. His name's actually North and, surprise, he's very Russian."

"Santa's Russian?" Lights interjected. "Huh."

Jack raised an eyebrow at her. "Can I continue or are you going to comment on everything?"

"I will be as silent as a clam."

"Good. So, North. Russian. Very big, very into swords, kinda terrifying when you first meet him, downright jolly once you get to know him. He designs the most amazing toys you've ever seen at his workshop. And, get this; the elves don't actually make the toys."

Lights opened her mouth to speak, but closed it with an audible snap, remembering her promise.

"North just lets them believe they do. All the toys are actually made by yetis. Who, incidentally make fantastic security guards. Never try to break into the North Pole, it's pointless. Anyway, North's the Guardian of Wonder and the head honcho of the Guardians and he usually hosts our monthly meetings – wow, that makes us sound like a book club – but he's panicking over Christmas so I'm hosting.

"Okay, then there's the Sandman, or Sandy. He's a man of very few words and _plenty _of ideas. He's the oldest Guardian and he's, obviously, the Guardian of Dreams. He's about yea big, likes to float around, all gold and sparkly-"

"I've seen some of his dreams!" Lights burst out. "Sorry," she whispered, looking quite cute and innocent.

Jack pretended to glare at her before continuing on. "He sends out dreams with his Dreamsand from his magical Dreamsand-cloud. Has a c_razy _hairstyle with a bunch of peaks." He held locks of his own hair on end to try to demonstrate. "When we took on Pitch – but you don't know anything about Pitch, either. Remind me to come back to fighting Pitch, okay?

"Who next? Toothiana? Sure. She's the Tooth Fairy and everyone calls her Tooth. She's half hummingbird, half human and functions like she just downed a pot of espresso. She's in charge of a whole flock of mini-fairies who actually collect the teeth and take them back to the Tooth Palace where they're stored for the memories. Oh, I should probably tell you that baby teeth hold memories and Tooth protects them until you need them later in life. Speaking of baby teeth! One of Tooth's mini-fairies is Baby Tooth. She's adorable, you'd like her I bet. Anyway, that's Tooth, Guardian of Memories.

"And who am I forgetting?" He paused, knowing very well who the last Guardian was.

"The Easter Bunny?" Lights suggested.

"Bunny!" Jack exclaimed and laughed. "Good ole Bunnymund. He's something over six feet tall, Australian, and has a tendency to throw these crazy boomerangs at things that make him mad. And never doubt that he's real, 'cause he's real, all right. Real annoying, real grumpy, and really full of himself."

"That sounded rehearsed," Lights pointed out.

"Come on – now, what kind of a clam are you?"

Lights shrugged. "A talking one?"

"And it was rehearsed," he admitted. "But only a little! I just wanted to use it when someone could actually hear me."

"Okay, so what's Bunnymund the Guardian of?"

"Hope."

Lights considered him over the top of her hot chocolate. "So what are you the Guardian of? Snowflakes?"

"Excuse me." He stood up indignantly. "I just so happen to be the Guardian of Fun and Joy."

"That's impressive." She nodded respectfully towards him. "Now sit back down and tell me about this Pitch stuff."

"Pitch stuff? Oh, see, Pitch isn't stuff, Pitch is a he. Lights?"

"Yes?"

Jack paused, unsure of whether or not he should ask her or if he should even tell her the story of Pitch. Perhaps she didn't believe in the Boogeyman and telling her made her believe? What if now she was safe from Pitch but soon she wouldn't be? It didn't matter anyway, he told himself. Pitch was gone. "Do you believe in the Boogeyman?"

She shook her head slowly. "I believe in a lot of things," she admitted. "But I try to only believe in good things, you know?"

Jack nodded slowly, coming to perch on the side of the fountain again. "Then I'm going to tell you a story. It's a story about Guardians. You ready?" And he launched into the tale from Easter, omitting nothing, not even his memories and his discoveries about himself. He'd never told the story to anyone, and he'd never expected to. He had believed that everyone who needed to know the story had experienced it but here he was, telling the entire thing to Lights who made the perfect audience. He found that her infrequent interruptions didn't bother him but only helped him add to the retelling. She even looked away from him to wipe her eyes when he told her about Sandy's disappearance. When he was finished, she sat quietly for a few moments before speaking.

"You saved your sister's life and then you saved everyone from fear." Her luminous eyes were fixed on his and he found he couldn't look away. "You're a lot more than I thought you were."

Her attention made him uncomfortable so he looked away from her to make a single snowflake. "Thanks, Lights."

She played with the edge of her now empty Styrofoam cup, tracing the rim over and over again. She was thinking, taking in everything he had said. "You know," she said finally, "it'd be a lot easier if I didn't believe you."

Jack turned to look at her. "What does that mean?"

"I've never fit in very well and maybe, just maybe if I didn't believe in you and everything else, I would fit in a tiny bit better." She studied him. "Not that I'd really want to, but just maybe."

"What's your story, Lights?"

A forced breath of laughter. "It's not a great story."

"I like any kind of story and I have plenty of time."

Lights traced the cup a few more times before she started to speak. "My parents died when I was four and I went to the orphanage. That's when I really started believing in Santa and the Easter Bunny and whatnot and I guess that makes sense. I just really, really wanted something to hold onto that was good." She glanced at him, her eyes doleful. "And so I just believed. It was the only thing I could do.

"When I was little, I was afraid of people so that when adults would come and look at kids to adopt them, I would hide. So I was never adopted. And now I'm still at the orphanage and no one wants to adopt a seventeen year old girl. Especially if she still believes in magic and never grew up.

"So I just watch out for the younger kids while they're there. At nights if I can't sleep, I'll go in and check on them and I can see their dreams. I always thought it was just me being overtired and imagining things but now after what you told me I know they're the Sandman's dreams. In the spring, a lot of the dreams were black and when I saw those I would wake the kids up and rock them back to sleep without dreams. Sometimes, the littlest ones would come and find me when I didn't go to check on them. Sometimes, I had nightmares too.

"That's really my entire story, Jack. But once I graduate it'll be different. I'll have to go to college and get a job and live entirely on my own. I just hope I can get a full ride somewhere because I won't be able to afford it. But I don't have to worry about that just yet." She forced herself to smile. "I'll just focus on the present for a while."

* * *

Jack felt unbelievably guilty when he left her a little later to prepare for the other Guardians. He knew what it felt like to be alone, to not be believed in. He'd never thought about what it would be like to not be believed, to be ridiculed for being different and for clinging to hope and wonder in whatever way possible.

When Bunnymund appeared a few feet away from where he sat that evening, Jack was still out of sorts but he tried his hardest to give Bunny a hard time. He found it wasn't that difficult to do.

* * *

Everything was still and quiet in the orphanage but Lights still couldn't sleep and she couldn't figure out what was keeping her awake. It was as though something was slightly off but nothing tangible, as far as she could tell. Her clock told her it was quarter after ten. All the younger children should be sleeping but maybe they weren't. Stuffing her feet into her tattered slippers and wrapping her quilt around herself, she decided to go check.

She crept quietly down the hall towards the closed door that separated the group girls' bedroom from the rest of the building. As the only resident over the age of ten, Lights was given a room all to herself while the other children shared: the boys at one end of the hall and the girls at the other. The girls' room was closer to her own and she checked there first.

All of the little girls were curled up in their beds, fast asleep. Some of them had been asleep long enough that they'd stopped dreaming while others still had golden figures circling above them. Lights smiled at the dreams. They were so bright and comforting. They proved that all was well.

But one little girl, Sarah, was sleeping fitfully. Concerned, Lights approached the side of her bed and watched in horror as the golden dream slowly turned black. A nightmare.

Lights shook Sarah's shoulder to wake her, but the child continued to sleep. Lights shook her harder, but it did no good. She tapped Sarah's face lightly and then with more force when the girl continued to whine in her sleep. From what lights knew, Sarah was a light sleeper. Something must be terribly wrong. The nightmare wouldn't move in the slightest.

"Come on, Sarah," Lights hissed. "Wake up!"

Nothing.

Lights looked around at the other golden dreams and her thoughts went immediately to something Jack had said.

"…all gold and sparkly…"

The Sandman. He was a Guardian so he was at the pond at that very moment.

Acting quickly, Lights scooped Sarah up into her arms, assuring herself that if the cold air revived her, she would just take the child back to bed and not bother the Guardians. She made sure Sarah was covered with a blanket and hurried down the stairs and through the kitchen, stopping only for her boots and jacket, before rushing into the night air, the now crying child held tightly to her.

* * *

"… and you bring big snow this year?" North asked Jack.

"You want a big snow storm for Christmas? You got a big snow storm for Christmas," Jack promised. Jack was already tired of the meeting. He didn't see any point to it. Tooth had simply assured them that she was still collecting teeth, Sandman was sending dreams, Bunny was already planning for Easter and spring, and North was focused only on Christmas and its being perfect. Jack had mentioned already that he'd caused a few snow days and that he'd met a girl who believed, despite being a teenager. No one had seemed especially surprised by it and the matter had passed by unremarked upon.

"Christmas is very important this year," North told Bunny. "Much more important than Easter."

"Okay, d'you have to rub it in that Easter was ruined?" Bunny demanded, bristling.

Tooth was busy talking to a few of her fairies, giving them directions and Sandy was dozing a few inches off the ground. Jack sighed and looked off in the direction of the town, half rising, unsure of what he saw.

"Uh, guys?" Jack said quietly. They all ignored him.

By the light of the moon, Jack could see a lopsided figure moving swiftly towards them.

"Guys!"

North and Bunny stopped arguing, Tooth cut off mid-order, and Sandy jerked awake.

"What is shout for?" North asked.

Jack nodded in the direction of the shape, gripping his staff tightly just in case.

"What d'ya think that is, mate?" Bunny asked. He had a boomerang in his paw. All of the Guardians were ready to fight if need be.

"Jack?!" the figure called.

"It's Lights!" Jack sprang forward, rushing to her, confused as to why she was there. "What is it?"

"I need to see the Sandman," she explained breathlessly, holding out the sleeping girl in her arms. "She won't wake up."

Jack whistled shrilly. "Sandy!"

Sandy drifted gracefully over, looking peaceful, a question mark above his head.

Lights glanced at Jack for a moment before addressing Sandy. "It's Sarah. She's having a nightmare and I can't wake her up."

A cloud moved away from the face of the moon.

Lights gently lowered Sarah to the ground, taking care that nothing but the blanket touched the snow. The black mass of the nightmare continued to circle above Sarah's head, changing shape every few seconds. Sandy studied it closely.

"What's going on here?" Bunny asked as he walked over to the little group.

"The little girl won't wake up," Jack explained in a hushed tone. "She's having a nightmare."

Bunnymund's eyes widened and he glanced at the cloud of black sand. "You don't think…?"

"Who else would it be?" Tooth's voice was quiet as though she were unwilling to speak.

"Look!" North cried, grabbing everyone's attention. "Man in Moon! He has something to tell us!"

As the Guardians watched, they saw a familiar profile silhouetted in shadow on the moon.

North was the first to speak. "It can't be…"

Lights looked at each of the five Guardians. "Is that… Pitch?"

Sarah let out a blood curdling scream.


	5. Dreams

**Short chapter is short. In my defense, the last one was longer.**

* * *

"Is he here?" Lights asked, her voice very quiet.

"No," North said. "Not here. Man in Moon says that is Pitch's nightmare. That is all."

Lights turned her attention back to Sandy who was still bent over Sarah. The nightmare was gone and the girl was stirring, slowly waking up. As soon as Sarah's eyes fluttered open, Sandy put her back to sleep, a dream of ballerinas dancing above her.

"Thank you," Lights whispered. "I'll take her back to bed. She'll sleep the rest of the night?"

Sandy nodded. He looked concerned and stood flatly on the ground instead of hovering just above it.

"I'm sorry I interrupted." Lights grabbed Sarah and turned to go.

"Wait up!" Jack called before she could leave.

She paused and turned to look back at the Guardians.

"Are you going to be able to sleep?" Jack asked, casting a meaningful glance at Sandy who nodded.

"Probably not-" Before she could say another word, Sandy threw a ball of Dreamsand that hit her solidly in the face. She fell gracefully to the ground, sound asleep.

"That has got to be the first graceful thing I've seen her do," Jack commented.

"Maybe you should've waited until after she was back in her room to put her to sleep," Tooth pointed out.

Sandy shrugged.

"You know where they live, mate?" Bunny asked Jack.

Jack nodded, picking up Sarah and gently handing her to Bunny. "I'll get Lights."

"Awe, look at the little ankle-biter," Bunny crooned as Sarah snuggled closer to his fuzzy warmth.

Tooth hovered closer, gazing at Lights' face. "I remember her…"

"What was that, Tooth?" Jack asked.

"Nothing." She shook her head. "You should get them back soon, before they get too cold."

* * *

Jack was extremely glad Lights wasn't very heavy and that the orphanage wasn't very far away. The way he was carrying her, with her head resting against his right shoulder and her feet dangling over his left arm, made it difficult to maneuver through the trees. Once or twice he hit her ankles on an oak but she didn't wake up. Once inside the orphanage, Bunny and Jack split up to find the respective rooms of their passengers.

Jack slipped quietly into Lights' room and deposited her on her bed. He glanced around the room. It was strangely empty without any of the personal touches that he'd expected Lights to have added. It was impossible to ignore that it wasn't really her room, that she was just staying there for a while as a guest.

"Jack?" So he had managed to wake her up.

"Jack, is that you?"

He crouched by the side of her bed. "Yeah, it's me," he said quietly. It was obvious she was barely awake and was about to fall back asleep at any moment.

She smiled dreamily at him, her luminous green eyes half closed. "Thank you, Jack." She reached out and put one finger on his nose and giggled. "You're my best friend."

Jack smiled at her and took her hand, placing it back on the bed. "Goodnight, Lights."

Still smiling, she fell asleep. Jack found a blanket and draped it over her, realizing that she still had her boots and jacket on but deciding she could deal with them in the morning. As he approached the window to slip outside, Sandy's returning Dreamsand caught his eye. He watched the dream form itself into what looked like a curtain. Intrigued, he moved closer for a better look.

He realized then that the golden dream was in the form of the Northern Lights and as he watched, a tiny dragon plunged in and out of the curtain, like a dolphin swimming in a golden sea.


	6. Secret Worlds

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Are you quite certain?" he hissed.

Pitch instinctively flinched from the voice. "I saw it happen."

"Then why didn't you stop her?!" the voice thundered. "You were there, within mere feet of that meddlesome girl but you let her run off to the Guardians and alert them that you have escaped!"

"I couldn't stop her!" Pitch spat. "She doesn't believe in me! Besides, it didn't reveal anything of the plan since it didn't work properly. The girl woke up before the nightmare could consume her. I told you, it was a test and it needed to be done."

"Next time when you run your little tests, try _not _to do it right under the noses of the Guardians."

"Yes," Pitch quivered, "master."

* * *

At breakfast, Lights made sure to sit near Sarah and ask her how she slept. Immediately Sarah began relating her dream about ballerinas, never once mentioning a nightmare and Lights was incredibly relieved. As soon as she could get away, she rushed to the pond but only found a handful of people skating; Jack wasn't there.

She felt that she was unreasonably disappointed especially considering that he was the very spirit of winter and she was just one girl. But she'd wanted to let him know how Sarah was and find out more about Pitch so she could be prepared if any more nightmares appeared in the orphanage. Accepting that she wouldn't be speaking to Jack, she changed her course and headed for the library with every intention of spending the day absorbed in a book.

The day was warm and the snow from the day before was already melting. Lights smiled to herself as she thought of how Jack would react to his handiwork already being swept away by the sun. The streets were covered in dark grey slush but the sidewalks were shoveled clean. She took her time walking to the library, basking in the weak sunlight.

Once she came to the stone building, Lights slipped inside, moving past those absorbed on computers or at the tables perusing magazines and encyclopedias. She went immediately to the fiction section, looking for some grand adventure that would take her several days to get through. She always seemed to have the most luck at the back of the library, down an aisle that was usually deserted. Choosing a book at random, she sank down onto the floor to begin reading. One of her favorite things about the library was the quiet. No one spoke above a whisper and it was never obvious at the library if you were friendless and alone. There, she was surrounded by worlds of characters. In her quiet corner she was far from alone.

At noon, Mrs. Bates, the director of the orphanage, called the library to request that Lights was sent back for dinner.

She read her new novel the entire walk back, only parting from her newly made friends to eat and help with clean up before she was able to slip away to her room and become absorbed once more. In that way, she hardly noticed time pass.

* * *

Jack couldn't get the events of the previous night out of his head. Over and over the scene replayed itself.

"_She's a beauty," Bunny said with a hint of a smile. Jack just looked at him, confused. "Oh, don't say you haven't noticed."_

"_Who are you talking about?"_

"_That little Lights."_

"_Oh, I suppose she is."_

_Tooth had interrupted then. "Jack, how long have you known her?"_

"_Well, not very. I've only just met her but she's genuine. I know it." He didn't know why he automatically got defensive, Tooth hadn't even said anything to deserve it._

"_I know she is," Tooth said in a soothing tone, "I wasn't saying otherwise. I just think you ought to be careful. She will grow up eventually."_

"_So what?" he demanded. "You haven't been around enough to know the whole situation! I'm not her friend just because I like to be around someone who believes in me. You haven't seen it. She's completely alone, it's like no one else sees her. When I saw her, I understood her. She's so afraid to be herself that it's impossible for anyone to see her. They call her Boring Alice but that's not who she is. She's, she's _vibrant_. She just needs someone to help her be who she is. That's all I'm doing, Tooth. If I thought she would be better off without me around, I'd never speak to her again."_

"_Keep an eye on her, Jack," North said as he stood to leave. "And on little girl. Make sure they stay safe."_

He sighed and leaped to the next roof over. He was out making his usual mischief but today his heart wasn't in it. He was concerned about Lights and the little girl, Sarah. It was extremely possible that Pitch had been in that room moments before Lights had entered, he might have even still been there when Lights had found Sarah. The thought made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He wanted to keep Lights as far away from Pitch as possible.

Jack allowed the wind to carry him away to another town where he alighted in a park. Someone had built an entire village of snow people who varied dramatically in size. As he wandered through their frozen ranks, he thought of Lights' comment about Frosty the Snowman. Today he could say he spent his time with Frosty's family. Maybe he'd tell her he was at a snowball. She would laugh. She laughed at everything and not in a forced or mindless type of way. Everything sincerely delighted her. He felt that was probably pretty strange behavior for an orphan girl with no friends.

The sun was finally starting to set and Jack felt as though if he went to find Lights, it wouldn't seem pushily soon. Finally.

She was reading when he found her. He had looked first at the pond, then the park, and only lastly at the orphanage even though, in retrospect, the orphanage made more sense than out in the dark. He knocked on her window and was pleased to see her bright smile when she saw him.

Lights set her book down and went to let Jack in, returning to her book once he was inside. She was in the middle of a page and wanted to finish it. Jack didn't take any offense to her ignoring him for a few moments. Instead he took the opportunity to examine the few things scattered on the rickety desk in the corner.

There was a tattered backpack with its contents spilling out – her school work. Beside the bag was a neat stack of books with a library card resting on top. Jack picked up the library card and examined it.

"Alice Aurora Rose," he read out loud.

Lights looked up at him from her book. "That would be my name."

He looked at the card again. "You didn't mention that your middle name is Aurora."

"You never asked." She placed a bit of paper in the book to keep her place before setting it beside her pillow. "I wasn't expecting you to show up today."

"I could leave if you wanted," he offered, already moving towards the window (knowing she would call him back).

"No, it's fine." She laughed, squirmed, and then launched herself off the bed and hugged him tightly.

Caught off guard, Jack took a moment before he returned the hug. "What's this for?"

She took a step back, blushing faintly. "Do you know how long it's been since I've hugged someone taller than me?"

"Well then I'm glad I could be of service." He bowed dramatically and she laughed.

"Sarah doesn't remember the nightmare at all," Lights announced suddenly. "Or that she was outside in the cold or that she met the Tooth Fairy, Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, and Jack Frost."

Jack nodded, moving to sit on the windowsill. "That's good. That means that whatever Pitch tried to do didn't work."

"But what was Pitch trying to do? And doesn't this mean he'll just try again? Is there anything you can do? Can _I _do anything?" Her eyes were round.

"There's nothing to do except keep watch, like you've done anyways. I'll always be back to check in on you so you just have to pay attention for anything that's off and let me know and I'll keep the other Guardians informed."

Lights sighed before sinking down onto the floor. "I wish I could do more. What happens if there are more nightmares and I can't wake them up and Sandy's too far away? And what about elsewhere? The world is huge!"

He shook his head. "Try not to worry. One thing about Pitch, he likes to show off. He won't concoct a huge plan to keep it a secret. No, he wants us to know because he thinks we can't stop him.

Lights shuddered and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Do you think we'll have to wait long?"

"I don't know. Last time, Pitch's plan only took about three days to unravel after he revealed himself but that didn't work out for him." Jack sighed. "It's all a bunch of waiting right now."

Lights nodded. "Jack?" she sounded hesitant. "Do you know anything about the Northern Lights?"

"What do you mean?"

Her face flushed and she looked pointed at a spot on the floor just to the right of his foot. "Well, are they more than just the logical explanation of particles colliding?"

Jack studied the profile of her face for a moment before answering. For some reason, she was embarrassed by the question which meant the answer was important to her. He thought briefly of her dream. "I don't know. I know that North can use lights that are similar to contact all the Guardians but the actual Aurora Borealis? I've never thought to find out."

"Do you, do you suppose it's possible there are dragons?"

Jack failed to see how this related to the first question. "Dragons? Probably. Somewhere."

Slowly, Lights rose to her feet and walked to stand beside Jack, gazing out her window. They were so close that Jack could feel her warmth.

"I'd like to see if there are someday," she said softly. "That's what I want to do. Travel the world, looking for all the hidden places. Just to see if I find any," she explained, misinterpreting his look of wonder for one of confusion.

"You know, Lights? Maybe I'll go with you."

"I'd like that."


	7. Falling

**I have a personal confession time! I squee with excitement whenever anyone reads this story. I've watched RotG at least five times in the past week. I'm extremely excited about the plans I have for this story. I really like the nickname "Lights." It just sounds cool.**

* * *

The school week had been longer than usual it seemed after the glorious three day weekend. Monday morning, all of the snow was gone and the cancelation seemed to have never happened. Quietly suffering through each long day, Lights looked forward anxiously to the nights when she would wake up faithfully at one in the morning to check on the orphans. She knew that Jack was elsewhere, also checking on children and that Tooth's fairies were also on the lookout. Sometimes, if he had time, Jack would stop in before she went to sleep. On those occasions they only had enough time to discuss the situation concerning Pitch and their young friendship was limited to a more businesslike relationship.

Now, it was Saturday night and Jack intended to help Lights get one step closer to realizing her dreams of seeing the world. She wasn't expecting him and so she was already asleep when he arrived at eight under cover of darkness.

When he saw the dream she was having – the one with the dragon and the lights – he hesitated to wake her up. But she could always have more dreams on other nights. He had plans for her.

With a smirk, Jack rapped his knuckles sharply on the windowpane but Lights didn't stir. Even after the fourth or fifth try she was still sleeping peacefully. Only more determined after his failed attempts, Jack tapped the end of his staff against the window, causing it to freeze over instantly and making the room's temperature drop considerably. He could just barely make out Lights form as she contracted into a tiny ball of person before slowly sitting up.

Without knowing _why _he did it, Jack pushed his face and his hands up against the glass. Well, maybe he did know why he did it; he wanted to make Lights laugh.

It worked.

She was still fighting to stay quiet as she threw the window open.

"You're like some messed up, frozen Peeping Tom!" she informed him through her laughter.

Jack was insulted. "I'm not messed up, frozen, or a Peeping Tom! I'm a slightly-below-average-temperature Guardian!"

"Jack," Lights said with a sigh, "you were hovering outside my window while I slept. That's the definition of creepy."

"I was trying to wake you up," he growled, baring his perfectly white teeth.

Lights blinked at him. She hadn't realized she was actually upsetting him. "I'm sorry, Jack. It was just a joke. But are you really only slightly below average temperature?"

"Well I'm not a corpse," he pointed out. Now that he was there and she was awake, he wasn't sure how to bring up his plan and instead just stood awkwardly in the middle of her room, tossing his staff back and forth between his hands.

"Okay, slightly-below-average-temperature-not-corpse-Guardian, what brings you to my daunting fortress?" She sat regally upon the footboard of her bed, facing him. He half expected her to lose her balance and fall off.

"Well, mademoiselle-of-the-daunting-fortress, I'm here with a proposition."

"I'm listening."

He leaned his staff against the wall, cleared his throat, and began to pace, his face composed in a very grave expression. "I understand you once expressed a wish to see the world. Well, one night isn't long enough to see the world but I can offer Niagara Falls."

Silence.

She was certain she was still dreaming. Here was Jack Frost – the legendary myth who had for unknown reasons decided to befriend her – in her bedroom offering to take her to Niagara Falls.

"Pinch me," she ordered, holding her arm out towards him. "I'm dreaming."

He grinned and formed a perfect snowflake, twirling it between his fingers before flicking it at her, smiling even more broadly when it hit her nose and gifted her with an extra dosage of fun. "I solemnly swear that you are awake."

"Okay. Let me get my coat."

* * *

If he were honest, Jack had to admit that his plan hadn't entirely covered the transportation to the Falls. Well, his plan was really only an idea; a little gift he could give Lights. He knew he would carry her but he hadn't bothered to consider _how_ he would carry her. If he took her hand, she would be dragged along and more likely than not injure her shoulder. The trip would be too long to just take a fistful of her jacket like he'd once done with Jamie. No, the only option was…

"A piggyback ride? To Niagara Falls? Oh dear, this will be interesting."

He crouched down so that she could climb on his back and she placed her hands on his shoulders, ready to jump… but she never did. Instead she removed her hands and wandered a few feet away from him.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, "I just- are we to that point in our relationship where we give each other piggyback rides? Sorry, just, I may have some slight personal space issues and…"

"Personal space issues?" he echoed, turning to her for clarification.

Her face was burning with her mortification and the little embarrassed smile she often wore was hovering around her lips. "I usually keep myself pretty distant from people. Hugging's a big deal for me."

Jack narrowed his eyes and considered her. "You'll have to get over that. It's just a piggyback ride. Would you prefer that I carry you delicately in my arms? Is that less _intimate_?" On the word "intimate" he knocked her feet out from underneath her and held her cradled to his chest like she was a small child. She struggled, laughing with embarrassment and looking stubbornly up at the sky, refusing to look at him with his face so close. "Lights, you have to get past this distance thing."

"Yup," she agreed, straining her neck to create more space between them. "Please let me go," she begged. Her eyes darted to his face for an instant and she squirmed all the more. "I don't do well being… close to people."

Seeing that she really was distressed and exquisitely uncomfortable, Jack let her down. "We need to work on your people skills," he pointed out. "But first, Niagara Falls."

Lights nodded and then without warning, leaped onto Jack's back. He staggered on impact but quickly regained his balance.

"A little warning would be nice," he pointed out grumpily.

"Don't you dare try being a grouch," she warned. The embarrassment in her voice was now mixed with playful excitement. "I'm in the _perfect_ position to strangle you."

"That's comforting," Jack muttered to himself before tightening his grip on his staff and leaping into the air.

He'd been afraid that Lights would scream once they left the ground but he found that he worried for nothing. Instead, she gasped. She relaxed her grip on him slightly and he could feel her shifting as she twisted to look at the world around them.

"This is amazing!"

Jack whooped with delight, enjoying the feeling of freedom being in the sky gave him. And the best part of the experience was that for once he wasn't alone. For once his shouts of joy were joined with someone else's.

"You're not scared?" he asked her.

"No," she answered.

Lights rested her chin on his shoulder and sighed. It was much easier to handle being so close to Jack if she couldn't see his face. While there was still a ball of embarrassment stuck in her stomach, it was nothing compared to what it had been when Jack and held her tightly in his arms. She just simply wasn't used to being close to people and it didn't help if that person happened to have incredibly warm blue eyes. Like Jack. She desperately hoped he couldn't feel her heart pounding.

* * *

The sound was like thunder. A grey cloud of mist rose up, obscuring the moon. It smelled like fish and she was freezing. Wind-chill and clouds had combined to make Lights feel as though she were frozen to her very core, despite Jack having taken the brunt of the chill. _Well, _Lights thought to herself, _it wasn't like it was a chill to him._ And he himself hadn't helped keep her warm at all. While he was right, he wasn't freezing cold like a corpse, he was certainly below room temperature.

"Come on," Jack tugged at her numb hand, "you should keep moving."

"I c-c-c-can't."

Trying a different angle, he went behind her and shoved her, making her stumble forward. "You're not that cold."

She didn't answer but she did keep walking. "W-w-what sid-d-de of the F-falls are we on?" Her teeth continued to chatter.

"Canadian. It's the better view, trust me." Jack was concerned, were her lips supposed to be that purple?

After walking up and down the paths several times, Lights was thawed enough to enjoy the Falls – lit up by massive spotlights.

"Oh, it's gorgeous!" she sighed, walking faster towards Horseshoe Falls. "Look at the mist! You can't even see through it!"

There were a handful of tourists out and none of them paid any mind to Lights and none of them could see Jack. It was almost as though they both were invisible.

Jack had been to Niagara Falls before, but Lights' excitement was infectious and he found himself bouncing around, just as eager as she was to stand there and watch water fall over a cliff.

As one of the spotlights changed to blue, Lights declared, "Blue is my most favorite color!"

"That's because it's the best color," Jack pointed out, approaching the railing and leaning against it.

"So I take it it's your favorite color, too." Lights settled herself beside him, staring at the monstrous waterfall. "That's a long ways down," she commented.

Getting an idea, Jack leaped unto the railing, leaning as far over the edge of the drop as he could without falling. Lights didn't make a sound, she just stared at him, her eyes wide.

"It sure is," he commented.

"Jack," Lights' voice was uneven, "please get down."

Jack pretended he didn't hear her. "Wonder how far it is…"

"Let's not find out," Lights pleaded. "Come on, Jack. This isn't funny!"

He turned to look at her quickly, losing his balance and tumbling over the edge. Lights shrieked and lunged forward, reaching her arm between the bars. Her hand made contact with his staff and she gripped it tightly, refusing to let go despite the effort on her cold arm.

Deftly, Jack swung himself back over the rail, landing softly beside Lights who immediately slumped down onto the ground. At first Jack thought she was finally just overcome with cold and was trembling but then he realized she was fighting back tears.

"Hey, hey I'm all right," he said softly, crouching beside her and resting a hand on her shoulder. "There was never any danger."

She nodded mutely and looked up at the sky. He could see a muscle in her jaw twitch. She closed her eyes tightly, breathing very deliberately and a single tear escaped her eyelashes and raced down the plane of her cheek. It was soon joined by others that were just as silent. An overwhelming wave of guilt washed over Jack. He was her only friend and through his joke he'd made her think for a moment that she was going to lose him.

Abashed, he moved to sit beside her. Gently, he wrapped one arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, tucking her head under his chin, and gently rocked her.

"Would you like to go home now?" Jack was surprised by how rough his voice sounded. He cleared his throat self-consciously.

He felt Lights nod.

* * *

She was trembling uncontrollably when he got her back to her room. They hadn't spoken at all on the way back, Lights was too cold and too distressed while Jack was too mortified and ashamed. How could he have done that to her?

He waited as she peeled off her damp jacket and clumsily removed her boots with frozen fingers. The evening hadn't gone like he'd planned. He'd ruined everything. And she would probably end up sick from the cold and damp. Good job, Jack. Real A for effort this time.

Looking quite terrifying with her empty eyes, Lights stood in the middle of her room and shook. Jack was at a loss of what to do. It felt like an eternity passed before she moved. Slowly, she held out her hand to him. Without hesitating he took it, experiencing a jolt of surprise when he noticed how cold her hand was. She was colder than he.

"You should get to sleep," he muttered, unable to meet those empty eyes. "The blankets will help you warm up."

He assumed she nodded in response since she didn't say anything but simply moved away from him, crawling into bed and curling into a tight ball. He felt useless as he watched her. She looked miserable.

The blankets were wrapped tightly around her and all he could see was her face (he quickly looked away). Her lips were still that unnatural shade of purple.

"Jack." Her voice sounded weak and flat compared to her usual liveliness.

"Yeah?" He still refused to look into those doleful eyes. Guilt clawed at him. He was an idiot.

"Promise me you'll never pretend to fall over Niagara Falls again."

Jack's voice was barely audible. "I promise."

The following silence grew but still he didn't move to leave. He never lifted his eyes from the floor.

"Jack." Her voice was sharper this time, commanding.

Automatically his eyes snapped up to hers. There was a small half-smile playing on her mouth. Slowly, the same icy hand as before found its way free of the nest of blankets and reached out towards him. He hesitated this time before taking it in his own.

Jack noticed two things about Lights' hand: the first being that it was warmer than before and the second that it was incredibly small within his own.

"Stay with me until I fall asleep?"

He sat on the edge of the nightstand until, in the midst of her dreams, her hand slipped out of his. The sun was nearly over the horizon.


	8. Five Snow Globes

It was high time for a visit to the North Pole, Jack decided the following night. He wanted to see how North was doing with his over the top preparations and just check up on the Globe of Belief. Plus he just loved finally being able to get inside the workshop.

Phil was the yeti who let him in, grumbling in Yetish. Jack grinned at him and greeted him fondly. Phil was the yeti who first caught Jack trying to break into the Pole. They went way back.

"Where's North?" Jack asked.

Phil answered with some garbled language.

"You know what? I'll just go check his office, thanks." Jack turned to walk away but the yeti grabbed the back of his sweatshirt and hoisted off of his feet. "Seriously? You're throwing me out?!"

Unable to understand a word Phil said and with the ground just out of reach, Jack had no option but to be hauled through the workshop in such a humiliating way. He'd mentioned to Phil numerous times his miraculous ability to walk on his own but the yeti studiously ignored him until depositing him gracelessly in front of the Globe of Belief. Phil pointed towards the other side of the circular room – to North's library – before trundling off back to the workshop. He was very busy with Christmas so close and did not appreciate having been summed to open the door.

Jack got to his feet and dusted himself off. He didn't entirely understand why Phil had taken him to the library instead of North's office. Christmas was less than two months away. It didn't make sense that North would be anywhere but immersed in work. Knowing the best way to find out what was up was to, well, see what was up, Jack decided to avoid the surprisingly few elves scampering around and cut across the middle of the open chamber, briefly landing on the Globe of Belief to check on the lights of Jamie and his friends.

"Jack!" North's voice boomed.

Sure enough, he was in his library and he seemed to have been expecting Jack. North stood before the controls of the Globe, blocking out a large portion of the room behind him with his hulking form. He was smiling though his eyes were clouded with confusion and he seemed unusually distracted.

"Lights are very bright now, no?"

"They sure are," Jack agreed, landing lightly next to North. "Um, North? What's that?"

Now that he was beside North, Jack could see behind him. From the spot in the floor where the Guardian's crest usually lay was a sort of pedestal with a large crystal resting on it.

"That? That is how Manny picks new Guardian."

Jack walked around the crystal. "So this is the thing that picked me? How? D'you take it down and play Spin the Crystal? Or is it like a crystal ball and you all gather around it, saying what you think you see?"

"No, no, no." North chuckled, amused that Jack was a Guardian and still didn't know how he had been chosen. Jack was considerably less amused. "When Manny brings up crystal to make it glow, the picture of new Guardian appears here," he waved his hand above the crystal, "in light."

Jack cocked his head to one side. "But there's nothing there."

"And that is why I have not called the Guardians. Today the crystal come up but no light. And," North gestured towards the skylight through which the moon could be seem, "Manny is not explaining, are you, Manny?"

"Huh." Jack tapped the point of the crystal, frosting the very tip of it. The frost immediately melted despite the crystal being cool to even Jack's touch. "That's odd…"

"Anyway, Jack, what is big news? What brings you to the Pole?"

"Now why do I have to have a _reason_ to come visit?" Jack turned his attention away from the crystal.

"Please, Jack." North gave him a knowing look. "You have a reason for everything."

Caught, Jack just flashed North a lopsided smile before moving to inspect the shelves of the library, particularly interested in the entire shelf full of snow globes. There were snow globes of it seemed every size; some as small as marbles and others nearly the size of Jack's head. They were all perfectly still, the little artificial snowflakes rested at the bottom of their glass enclosures. Jack picked up one of the smaller ones, rolling it between his thumb and finger and watching the snow dance.

"Is it the girl?" North walked up behind him, keeping a watchful eye on the miniature snow globe Jack held.

"Lights?" Jack suggested. He set the snow globe down in its spot. "It relates to her. In a way. Hey, North, you sure do have a lot of these snow globes."

"And what of it?" North considered the teen, anticipating his request.

"Do these small ones work like the big ones do?"

"They make portal big enough for… one or two people. Two small people. Your size." North hadn't moved his eyes off Jack. "You want one? Is that why you are here?"

Jack glanced at North and noted the sparkle in the massive man's blue eyes. "Eh… partially."

"Come, you must have good reason or I give you nothing."

"You know Lights…"

"I know _of _her."

Jack acknowledged the truth of that statement. "Well, she's an orphan. She hasn't really seen anything outside of Burgess so I have this plan to sort of show her the world a bit. I mean, the girl's seventeen years old and has never even left the state. And as her friend, I want to do something nice for her, ya know? She's pretty shy, North."

"There are lots of shy children in the world," North pointed out. He turned away from Jack and crossed to the window in order to hide his face. North was having one of his belly feelings but he didn't want Jack to know. The winter spirit wasn't the only one who could be mischievous.

"I do know that. I do! But," Jack took a moment to collect himself. "Lights isn't shy like the other children. Well, first off she isn't a child. Kids are shy because they're afraid so they hide. With Lights – North, it's not that she's afraid of things. I don't really know the best way to explain it. It's like she's lost the only people she was close to and she just doesn't want to do it again. She's not shy. I mean, she's never been shy towards me. But she can't lose me like she lost her parents." He sighed heavily, afraid he wasn't getting through to North. "There's… something about Lights and I don't know exactly what it is yet."

North turned towards Jack, his face carefully blank. "Then you will need to find out." And he handed Jack five small snow globes off of the shelf. "But you must bring her here."

Jack blinked slowly, taken aback by how quickly North had agreed to his plan and even added his own provision. "H-here?"

"Bring her the last weekend in November. The workshop will be very busy, very impressive." North grinned, growing excited over the idea of guests. "We will bring other Guardians here, too. Then we will discuss the crystal and I will see if you have put to good use my snow globes."

Jack found himself hoping desperately for the sake of his own safety – he was afraid of what North might do if he lost his chance to entertain and amaze – that Lights would agree to another wild adventure after that last fiasco.


	9. Brothers

**I can't really express how much I love writing this story and how crazy I get about planning it. I have a lot of ideas for what's going to happen but I do have a few holes to fill so if you have any ideas/requests please let me know! I just really like getting feedback, it makes me write faster. SO if you like this story and want more chapters in less time please review OR if you don't like this story and you've only read this far because you think it's ridiculous, review so that I'll write more and you'll have more to ridicule! **

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There are certain types of people who feel the need to express themselves loudly when happy. And there are certain subtypes of these people who are extremely shy and don't like to be overheard expressing their loud happiness. And an even fewer number actually did anything to act on the impulse to express themselves. Lights was one of the few.

It was a school night, she was slightly sick, she didn't care.

Shortly after being let out from school, she slipped outside with only a brief explanation. During her last class, she had noticed the breeze had picked up and by the time the final bell rang, it was cold outside. Which meant only one important thing: Jack was back. Not that he had been gone a particularly long amount of time, only about four days. And it didn't necessarily mean she would see him, she was just glad to know he was in the area. They hadn't been on the best of terms the last time they had hung out.

Running through the trees, jumping over roots and other obstacles, Lights was able to move quickly (if a little awkwardly). She wasn't going anywhere particular, just running through the woods and laughing at herself. She felt unbelievably free in that moment. She had no responsibilities towards anyone and no one – not one single person on the entire earth – was judging her actions, labeling her a freak. She had a friend she could trust. Someone who kept coming back. In her quiet, unusual way, she was happy.

Breathless, Lights came to a stop. From where she stood the town was entirely hidden from view. It was marvelous.

"Are you hiding from me?"

Lights felt she deserved some sort of award for how magnificently she didn't show that Jack's random appearance had nearly given her a heart attack.

"Of course I am." And off she went, jogging now instead of full out running.

Jack smiled to himself. This was a good sign. She was being playful, she didn't seem angry at all for his stupidity. He decided he might as well follow her since that's what the game required – whatever the game was. Maybe it was tag. Setting off at a trot, he was able to keep up with her easily but he let her remain just ahead of him. She would turn suddenly, her dark hair streaming behind her and bouncing slightly with her motion.

Because he could, Jack decided to take advantage of his superior balance skills and follow her from the air. Then she wouldn't hear him coming and maybe he could scare her again. Or ambush her with an impromptu snowball fight. Moving silently, Jack kept just above Lights until she slowed to a stop and spun around, searching for him. Jack hid in the branches of a tree where he was still able to see her.

"Oh Jaaack!" she called, spinning around so her shout carried every direction. "Come out, come out wherever you are!"

Her eyes were lit up with the smile that hovered around her lips. Bunny had pointed out to Jack that she was a beauty and at that moment he was able to fully see what the rabbit had meant. With her long hair disheveled and her cheeks pink from running she looked somehow better than any other time Jack had ever seen her. She looked so alive. And the gleam in her eyes made her look almost half wild as though the forest was her natural home.

Smirking, Jack formed a snowball in his hand. Lights wouldn't be able to retaliate; there was no snow on the ground. He aimed. He fired. He hit her solidly in the back of the head, sending her stumbling forward a few steps. Jack crowed with laughter and leaped spryly out of the tree, landing just behind her.

Lights didn't turn around immediately, she seemed to be frozen. Then slowly, inch by inch as though something were holding her back, she came to face him. Her expression was one of hurt, tears swam in her eyes and she blinked furiously to hold them back.

"What did I do to you?!" she screamed at him.

Jack was shocked. He began stammering out apologies, his brain forming incomplete words that his mouth couldn't string together into anything coherent. It was as though he'd crossed over some line he hadn't realized existed. He felt his face burning, knowing he was blushing slightly and blushing all the more because of it.

She couldn't do it anymore. Lights burst out laughing, even having to double over because she couldn't breathe. "Your face!" she gasped. The tears were real now. "You should've seen your face!"

It slowly sank in that she had, in fact, been _joking_. "I- I thought that you… Wait, what?"

She was beaming and showing off every tooth. Tooth would've been impressed with their pearly whiteness. "Come on, you didn't think I was _that _crazy, did you?"

"I didn't-! What just-? Why-? WILL YOU STOP THAT?"

She was laughing uncontrollably again. "Awe, look how red you are!"

Jack tried to glare at her but it didn't help that his mouth kept twitching. Eventually, he gave into the impulse to smile.

Lights finally settled down after a coughing fit, content to just smile at him. She gave him a gentle shove. "Lighten up. Now, we're even."

"These are completely different situations!" Jack argued, forcing the smile off his face in an attempt to at least appear upset. "In the previous case, _I _knew I was joking."

"So it's all right if you play tricks on people but not if they play tricks on you?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Obviously."

"Obviously," she repeated, beaming again. "Now why is that, Mr. Frost?"

Jack shrugged and leaned against his staff. "Because I'm an awful person?"

"Psh, lies." Lights moved off among the trees again. Her statement had taken Jack by surprise. Generally, when in an argument – no matter how serious – the person you were arguing with was supposed to take the opposite side as what you did, not defend you.

He chased after her. "What did that mean?"

She cast a sidelong glance at him. "It meant you're not an awful person."

"Well, I do hold the record on the naughty list," he said with the smallest hint of pride.

"That doesn't mean you're a bad person," she pointed out and continued walking. It was obvious Lights wasn't in a mood to talk much but Jack was curious.

"You barely know me," he reminded her. He was not letting this conversation drop. "I could be putting on an act for you."

Lights stopped walking and turned to face him fully. Her eyes locked with his and she tilted her head slightly. Jack was fully aware he was under examination. Her eyes were very green.

"I don't think you are. I don't think Old Man Winter can blush on command." She laughed as he looked outraged.

"I did not blush!"

"Denial, one of the largest rivers in the world."

"You were seeing things."

A pause. "Like I'm seeing you?"

Of course the possibility that she was indeed truly crazy had occurred to her before but she'd always managed to keep it subdued in the back of her mind. Being crazy was the most logical explanation for seeing magical creatures no one else could. The most logical and the most depressing. She'd also considered the possibility she was in a coma.

"No," Jack said with force. He leaned his staff against a tree and took Lights face in his hands, forcing her to look straight into his eyes. "I promise I'm real, okay? And I can prove it."

His hands were cold on her skin but not painfully so. She could see flecks of light blue – almost white – in his eyes. They were such a vivid blue; she'd never seen anyone else with eyes quite like his. "H-how?"

"I want you to meet a friend of mine…"

"Jamie Bennett!" Lights cried when she saw where Jack was leading her and putting everything together. "You know Jamie?"

Jack was even more surprised. "_You _know Jamie?"

"It's not a very big town," she pointed out as though stating the obvious. "And I'm pretty darn observant, lemme tell you."

"Oh are you?"

"Alice: the girl who reveals nothing and notices everything. That's me."

Jack was confused for half a second before he remembered her name was actually Alice.

"Well, Alice," Jack said, using her real name for the first time, "I'm going to prove to you that Wonderland is real. Just wait here."

He flew off into the sky and Lights sat down on the curb to wait. The sun was setting, sending streamers of pink and violet up into the sky where they met and blended with the soft blue of twilight. She wondered idly if the Northern Lights would be visible that night. Before long, Lights heard voices and she turned to see Jamie and Jack making their way towards her.

Jamie's eyes were riveted on Jack and it was immediately obvious that he hero-worshiped the winter spirit like an older brother. The boy was talking animatedly, bouncing with excitement. It seemed like it'd been awhile since they'd seen each other. There was a change in Jack, too. Lights could see that he was filling the older brother role and absolutely loving it. She tried her best to ignore the pang of longing she felt. They acted like family.

"And this is Lights," Jack was saying to Jamie.

Jamie looked confused and stared at Lights. "That's Alice. She was our class tutor last year."

Jack grinned at Lights. "I call her Lights."

Lights gave a small smile. She hadn't been much of a tutor. All she'd done was make copies for the teacher and occasionally grade spelling tests. Not once had she ever worked with any of the kids and she was extremely surprised that Jamie remembered her at all.

"Is she a Guardian, too?" Jamie asked.

"No," Jack was obviously confused, "she's not."

Jamie shrugged. "Well she can see you and she's old. I didn't think anybody could see any of you if they're old."

Jack crouched down to talk to Jamie and Lights just listened, content to not participate. Her shyness was kicking into overdrive. They stayed there talking until Jamie's mom called for him to come inside and go to bed. The boys' goodbye was studded with promises to go sledding once it snowed and to bring plenty of snow days. Lights was surprised when Jamie turned to her.

"Bye Alice – er, Lights!"

She smiled another tiny smile. "Bye."

Jack stared at Lights after Jamie had scampered off inside. "So," he said at length, "d'you believe me?"

She nodded. Her arms were wrapped around herself and she was gazing at the Bennetts' house without seeing it, her mind was far away.

Jack had known Lights was shy, but he'd never had such an example of it before. Over the past half hour, she had only spoken once and that had been to say goodbye to Jamie. It was so different from how he knew her. And obviously something about the encounter had affected her because she stayed mute when he started walking. She just followed silently, still lost in her own little world.

While she appreciated Jack proving her sanity to her, the encounter left Lights feeling somewhat shaken. She had willing distanced herself from other people so much, she'd forgotten so many things. She had managed to consciously forget her longing to have a family, to have a brother or a sister or a mother or a father or an aunt or an uncle or grandparents or cousins or _anyone_. She had gone years without spending a waking thought thinking about how she would never have nieces or nephews, how once she left the orphanage she would never have a group Christmas. Jamie and Jack were so like brothers that their relationship had inadvertently shown Lights how alone she was. And, she had to admit, it made her jealous.

Jack kept up a constant stream of chatter while they walked rather aimlessly. Lights didn't hear a single word he said but she appreciated the effort. Somehow they ended up back outside the orphanage and Jack followed her up to her room, not needing to hide from any of the staff. Once in her room, he stopped talking.

Lights sat down in the middle of her bed, her eyes still distant. Jack perched on her desk and waited for her to speak.

"My parents died when I was four," she said at length, still looking through him instead of at him. "They were the only family I've ever had."

She didn't cry. Her grief was long past tears.

Jack slowly crossed the room to sit beside her, shoulders touching. "I died three hundred years ago," he said quietly. "I spent three hundred years without anyone being able to see me because no one believed in me. I know what it's like to be alone, Lights. I know what it's like to be invisible. I know what it's like to want a family."

Nothing more needed to be said. It wasn't a competition of who possessed the greater misfortune, the boy who died or the girl who survived. All either of them needed was to know that the other understood. That fact was their greatest comfort in that moment.

"I was at the North Pole Monday," Jack announced, changing the subject from their mutual understanding.

"Oh?"

One side of his mouth pulled up in a smirk. "I wanted to talk to North and find a better way of travelling long distances than… Jack-back."

He was rewarded with her snort of laughter. "Jack-back?"

"Like horseback but more… wintry."

"Understatement of the year," she said in a dry tone.

Jack nudged her with his elbow. "Shhh. I have a better plan now. North helped me with it but he has a condition."

"You have to slave away making toys from now until Christmas?"

"Nope," Jack shook his head. "Worse. You have to go to the North Pole."

Lights blinked. She was not expecting that. "When?"

"Week and a half or so? More importantly, would you be willing to travel this weekend? No waterfalls, I promise."

"Of course."

* * *

His greatest fear was Death and Death wore many hats. Death came in many ways. Death had many agents that claimed victims – or friends – on Death's behalf, Death never did its own work because Death was truly powerless. Death wasn't a force, Death was a keeper. A sentry.

Because he feared Death he didn't know that Death could be gentle, or even kind. He only saw Death through the distorted lens of fear and so Death became exactly what he feared most. Death became impenetrable darkness and anguish. Death became despair. Death became powerful.

And Death became greedy.

And through his fear he was left helpless before Death, who had so longed to yield true power. His fear made him Death's tool. His fear made him a slave.


	10. The Fearling's Rider

**So I decided to change the summary because this is taking on hints of a darker tone than I'd previously anticipated. And without further ado... (Please review?)**

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"Whoops! Careful!" The warning was useless, Lights was already speeding past him down the mountain on the ice flow he might have technically been responsible for.

"I don't know how to ski!" She was pigeon-toed, knees bent, moments away from becoming entrapped in a massive ball of snow and pain.

Jack zoomed up next to her and hooked his arm around her waist to pick her up and stop her sliding. "Then maybe we should start with a bunny hill, huh?"

"A bunny hill?" she asked, craning her neck to try and look at him. "How do bunnies have anything to do with skiing? Can't we just go sledding?"

He alighted on a relatively flat patch of snow and released her. "Oh come on! We did _not _come to the Rockies to go _sledding_. And it barely counts as skiing anyway. You don't even have skis, you're just sliding on your feet."

Lights plopped herself down on the ground. "Imagine if I _did_ have skis." She shuddered as she imagined what the crash would be like. "Snow everywhere."

"So maybe sledding's the better idea…" Jack admitted, also picturing Lights' inevitable crashing into something. "Let's go with sledding."

Lights glanced around, taking in the noticeable lack of light. "I'll run into a tree. Or a bear. Or a rock. Or snow. Probably snow."

"That is why you are going to let me steer. Well, if you trust me."

"Although it goes against literally all of my better judgment, I do trust you, Jack."

Jack grinned.

Lights gulped. "I may come to regret this decision…"

Five trips down the mountain later, Lights was done. Her face felt frozen into the maniacal smile she could feel plastered across her features. And the altitude had left her completely breathless to the point of near hyperventilation. Jack seemed to be doing only slightly better.

"Not… carrying you… back up…" he panted and collapsed beside her.

"Deal…"

The two of them were stretched out in the snow, beneath a few pine trees at the base of the mountain. The ice track Jack had made ended a few feet from where they were and that was all the farther they'd managed to drag themselves.

"Rocky Mountains; better than Niagara Falls," Lights said. "No one," she threw a handful of snow at him, "pretended to die today."

"Hey!" Jack threw a reactionary handful of snow back. "No one pretended to throw a hissy fit today."

"Would you like me to throw a _real_ hissy fit?" The threat was clear in her voice although her smile (if Jack could see it) countered the effect considerably.

He decided it would be best to just not answer. Instead, Jack turned his undivided attention to the sky, hemmed in by the looming mountain peaks. It was freezing up at the tops of the mountains, he knew. Silently, he thanked North for the snow globes. Lights was cold enough without being freeze dried in flight even though she'd had the idea to wear snow pants this time. They made quite an interesting pair, he had to admit. He with his sweatshirt and trousers and she with her snow pants and heavy coat.

Beside him, Lights began making a snow angel.

Her hand brushed his shoulder repeatedly as she formed the wings of her angel. Jack found himself suddenly curious to know more about her childhood though knowing that if Lights wanted to tell him about her past, she would.

"Jack?" Lights asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

She rolled over onto her side to face him. "Will you tell me more about Pitch?"

Jack sat up abruptly and stared at her. "Why would you want to know more about Pitch?"

"Well, I've been thinking." She sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees. "I don't really know anything about Pitch except that last time he attacked the Guardians, right? What if he attacks you again? What if by some odd chance I happen to be there? I'd like to be useful, if that makes any sense whatsoever."

He studied the stars and moon. Her questions did take him by surprise but they did make sense. Pitch would be angry with the Guardians, with him especially for refusing to side with him, and would come back after them. It would be safest for Lights to know everything she could. "Do you know about fearlings?"

* * *

"So you're telling me Pitch can make crazy, evil horse-fearlings out of black sand? The same sand that Sandy uses to make his dreams and then-"

"Not exactly," Jack interrupted. "Fearlings aren't made of the sand. Fearlings are… they're evil spirits and Pitch is able to embody them in sand and make them into bad dreams."

"That can attack people," Lights added.

"That can attack people," he agreed.

"So," Lights got to her feet and went to the trunk of the nearest tree, "is there a way to fight these things or no?"

"Well yeah." Jack grinned, anticipating her plan. "They're only strong in numbers. See, North has his swords to fight them, Tooth has her wings, Bunny's got boomerangs, and Sandy can make whips out of his Dreamsand."

"And what can you do?"

"I'll show you." He formed a snowball and tossed it high in the air, directly above himself. Without even sitting up, Jack pointed his staff at the ball of snow and hit it with a nice blast of icy frostiness. It exploded in a puff of snow.

Lights laughed. "Impressive. However, I don't have impressive powers. I'm kind of… mortal."

At the word "mortal," they both seemed to close up and retreat within their own minds. It wasn't something they'd ever acknowledged before except in the first moments of their acquaintance. Jack was immortal. Lights was not. She would change with time and he would forever remain the same, just as he always had.

Lights considered Jack for a moment, taking in his disheveled white hair, intense blue eyes, and perpetual youth. The future would change everything. She decided to think only of the present for the time being. The future comes soon enough without anyone rushing it in.

"We'll come up with something for you," he promised.

But she was already ahead of him on that. "D'you think you could just, I don't know, _bash_ the… whatchamacallits…"

"Nightmares?" Jack suggested.

She blinked. "I thought they were fearlings?"

"Different name, same idea."

"Okay. So could you bash the nightmares with your staff?" Lights picked up a loose branch from the ground and began ripping off the little twigs.

"If I wanted to, yeah."

She tossed him the denuded stick and found another. "Then fight me."

Jack blinked. "What?"

"Fight me," she commanded, holding the stick in both of her hands and crouching. "I want to be ready if I ever need to be so, fight me."

He took a moment to consider how bizarre Lights was. Then with a shrug, he set aside his staff, lifted the stick she had given him, and swung with all his might.

She met the blow with her own stick and successfully kept him at bay, though it was obvious from that one hit that Jack was stronger than she was. She laughed brightly. "Again!"

With increasing willingness, Jack would attack and Lights would either block or dodge him, spending more time on the defensive than the offensive. She was faster than he'd anticipated and was unafraid to throw herself sideways into a strange sort of roll in order to stay out of his reach.

"I can't believe it, Lights!" Jack commented as he made a swipe at her legs which she jumped easily. "You actually do have some coordination!"

"Surprise!" she answered, and made a jab at his stomach which he casually blocked.

It was different sparring with Lights than it had been with Pitch. Obviously, Lights wasn't trying to actually hurt him and her fighting style was different, more instinctive. And she had good instincts. Somehow her inabilities to walk seemed to melt away when under attack. Her tendency to fall worked in her favor. She wasn't afraid to do whatever it took to dodge him. He might be stronger, but she was scrappier.

"Huzzah!" she shouted, raising her stick above her head and bringing it down with all the force she could muster. Jack managed to block it just in time and with a resounding _thwack!_ her weapon broke in half, the newly severed part bouncing off of his head on its way to the ground. "I win?"

Her eyes were so round and her expression so innocent after fighting like a demon, that Jack couldn't help but laugh. "If you won, it's because I let you."

She scowled at him. "Lies. You never hit me once and I just bopped you on the head!"

"Because your stick broke," he pointed out. "Also, a bop on the head wouldn't stop a nightmare."

"Nightmares won't have sticks to fight back with," she pointed out in the same tone.

It was his turn to scowl at her. She raised her eyebrows in response.

"Come on," he said crabbily. "Let's leave." He pulled another snow globe out of his pouch and went to throw it, but hesitated. The shadows had… shifted. Jack glanced up and there, crossing the face of the moon, was a solitary fearling. Quickly, he shoved his stick into Lights' hands and snatched his staff, hooking his arm around her waist and leaping into the air, giving chase to the black horse.

Too surprised to make a sound, Lights suddenly found her face buried in Jack's shoulder and the ground rapidly receding from underneath her. She really wished he would give her some sort of warning before doing things like that. A section of the ground was just visible to her and she cringed. They were so high up. He had her with one arm. For safety, she threw her arms around his neck and hung on for dear, precious life.

The fearling was moving quickly and there was something unusual about it that Jack couldn't quite understand. It almost looked as though the horse had a rider… but Pitch looked nothing like that. What on earth…?

He should have sent Lights back to Burgess before following the fearling, he realized. What if the figure was Pitch and he was just putting her in danger by bringing her along? He would never forgive himself. He was a _Guardian_. He was supposed to keep people safe.

"Hold on, Lights," he muttered to her before urging the wind to take them faster towards the fearling.

She mumbled something to him that he couldn't understand with the sound of the wind and the fact that she was more or less addressing his sweatshirt. It didn't take him long to figure out what it was, though. As soon as she'd finished speaking, she began wriggling until she'd somehow managed to climb under his arm and onto his back in a more secure position.

"What is that thing?" Even though she spoke quietly, her voice was loud in his ear.

"Nightmare."

Her one handed grip on his shoulder tightened. "Get it."

They were gaining on the fearling and its passenger. It was almost within range and Jack brought up his staff, ready to attack.

The figure on the back of the fearling moved in a way it shouldn't have. Without its legs changing position, the top half of the _thing _turned to face Jack and Lights. It had no flesh. Where its eyes ought to be were two empty chasms that seemed to trap all light from the world surrounding. Its empty jaws were opened in a toothless grin. It raised a skeletal hand and pointed and Jack and clacked its jaws horrifically.

"What the-?" Jack flailed his arms, losing his balance.

Lights screamed.

And then they were falling and the mountains were rushing up to meet them.


	11. This is not emergency, yet

**So originally this was supposed to be attached to Jack and Lights actually going to the North Pole but I felt like that whole experience will be its own chapter so here's some awkward in-between-ness for the meanwhile. Now for the feature presentation! **

* * *

The force of the wind tore them apart, Lights' stick struck the back of Jack's head and his eyes immediately began to water.

"Jack!" Lights looked scared yet somehow calm. Fear was evident in her eyes but she didn't panic, which would have sent her spinning farther away from him.

Thinking quickly, Jack grabbed a snow globe, yelled, "Burgess!" and threw it, hoping desperately that this would work. The portal appeared below them and to their left. "Aim for that!"

Instead, Lights reached out and managed to grab his sweatshirt hood. Doing his best to ignore the pressure on his windpipe, Jack dove for the portal, praying he wouldn't miss.

Within moments, they had crash-landed on the frozen pond.

Jack disentangled himself from Lights, spitting out some of her hair and managed to sit up. The moon was shining brightly overhead. Beside him, Lights groaned.

"You all right?" he asked her as she struggled to sit up next to him.

"I think I bruised my everything," she mumbled, resting her head in her hands. Her hair was a mess and covered over half of her face. Jack couldn't see anything broken on her which was a relief.

"You sure you're all right?"

She gingerly got to her feet, shaking out all of her limbs. "Positive."

Jack flopped back on the ice to enjoy its comforting coldness. "Good."

"What was that thing?" Lights asked.

"That was one of Pitch's Nightmares."

"What was on its back?"

Jack thought of the black skeleton with its empty eyes and gaping mouth. He shuddered. "I have no idea."

"Are you off to the North Pole then?" she asked. "To talk to North about it?"

"I s'pose so." Jack held his hand out to Lights to indicate that she should help him up.

She pulled him to his feet and they both stood there for a moment, utterly exhausted, before Jack took to the air and Lights made her way back to the orphanage. There was nothing more they could do that night.

* * *

"A skeleton?" North asked incredulously. "Are you sure was not Pitch?"

"Trust me, North. I'm sure." Jack slumped in North's chair. After rushing to the North Pole, Jack was realizing he probably should have stayed with Lights, just to be sure she really was all right. Maybe he'd go and check on her after this. Just in case.

"This is very strange…" North was pacing. It only took him a few steps to cross the entire expanse of his office, Jack noticed. "What can it mean?"

Jack didn't know, so he didn't offer up any suggestions.

"Jack," North suddenly turned to him, looking very intimidating. "You will stay here tonight. You need to rest and tomorrow you will tell the other Guardians to be here in a week, yes?"

"Don't you have a, a system for that?" Jack demanded, not liking the idea of being an errands boy.

North waved his hand dismissively. "That is for emergency. This is not emergency, yet."

"I'm not a messenger," Jack pointed out.

"But that is what we need you to be, Jack Frost." North scrutinized Jack. "She will still be there in a few days' time. You will need patience."

Despite how much he wanted to, Jack didn't argue any more. He was a Guardian which meant he now had responsibilities outside of himself. And Lights was able to take care of herself. She'd been doing that for years.

* * *

"Ask Alice to help you with your shoes, dear, I'm busy."

Lights was used to staff members brushing off small problems on her. They did it for two reasons; one being to save themselves some time and the second was that they were trying to make her a little more sociable. It never worked, though. She rarely ever spoke; she never knew what to say.

So Lights quietly tied shoes and buttoned coats. She would braid hair or sometimes even mend clothing. But she almost never spoke.

Today, however, her silence was different. Today was Saturday, exactly one week from the fateful trip to the Rocky Mountains. She had only seen Jack once over the span of that week and that had been the previous night when he had stopped to remind her of the trip to the North Pole.

_There was a knock at the window. She knew before she looked who it would be, who else would knock on a window? _

_His lopsided smile was plastered on his face as she threw the window open._

_"I'm sorry," she said, "but do I know you?"_

_"Very funny," he said sarcastically. "It hasn't even been a week yet. North has been keeping me busy," he added defensively._

_"I thought you just did whatever you want?"_

_Jack ignored that comment. "Remember that tomorrow I'm taking you to the North Pole to be formally introduced to all the Guardians. So you'll have to be on your best behavior."_

Lights gulped. She didn't know why she was nervous; she'd already met all of the Guardians. Under extremely different circumstances when Sarah had been in danger and she had been panicking, not knowing what else to do besides find the Sandman because of something Jack Frost had told her. So maybe she did know why she was nervous; she'd already met all of the Guardians and was extremely embarrassed about how forward she had been.

The large analog clock on the wall struck eight.

"Bedtime!" sang a staff member cheerily.

Normally, Lights would already be holed up in her room, excusing herself after supper to peruse her recently acquired library book but that night she was much to antsy. So instead, she had stayed in the common area, helping with the younger children. But now the moment was at hand. She went through a mental checklist to make sure everything she would need was already tucked in a corner in her room.

Escaping the bedtime bustle, Lights slipped past everyone more or less unnoticed. Jack was waiting, perched on the end of her bed with a snow globe in hand.

"Hi!" she said with a grin.

Jack smiled back at her. She was positively beaming with excitement. "Hello."

Lights was unable to explain for anything in the world why her stomach felt a little uneasy. It must have been from eating too quickly.

"I just have to get my boots on and then I'm… I'll be set!" she smiled brightly and giggled. Then without warning, she'd caught Jack in a suffocating hug.

"Easy, killer," he gasped, unable to breathe.

Lights let him go and blushed. "Sorry, just… excited."

"You've met the Guardians before," he pointed out. He had to admit, he found Lights' excitement amusing. It really wasn't surprising that Lights could see the Guardians, he thought. She was a child at heart.

"But not officially," she countered. She picked up a boot and pulled it on. "Besides, I've never been to the North Pole and it must be crazy a month before Christmas!"

"Trust me," Jack said as he picked up her jacket for her, "North is just as excited as you are."

Lights snatched the jacket from him, rushing to pull it on and messing up the buttons. "Then let's go!"

Jack considered telling her about the button mishap but decided against it on seeing how eager she looked.

"Let's go," he agreed and threw the snow globe.


	12. The North Pole

**So did anyone remember Tooth making that comment once that she remembered Lights? Please review and make me feel all bright and bubbly inside? Fun fact: I was able to write a bunch over the weekend because I had the flu. Huzzah. So review and make me feel better? Please don't make me beg, because I might...**

* * *

The hum of Tooth's wings was constant accompaniment to the age old argument being held between North and Bunny. This time the debate on whose holiday was better had been sparked by North proudly offering a tour of his workshop at its busiest. "You would not understand, Bunny."

For once, Sandy was attempting to participate in the argument, if only to stop it. He kept floating between North and Bunny, presenting pictures of friendship and peace – and occasionally Jack's staff to try to remind them of the impending visitors. Tooth was abnormally subdued; her directions to her mini fairies lacked her usual massive amounts of energy. Just the idea of this human girl, Jack's friend, worried her.

But she was determined to be friendly.

Bunny and North cut off mid-argument when a snow-globe-portal opened up in the middle of the library. The Guardians all turned expectantly.

Lights stumbled through the portal and stared at them all, wide eyed. "I should've let Jack come first…"

"Hello!" Tooth said, overly bright, fluttering up to Lights. "I'm not sure you…" She never finished her sentence because at that moment Jack came through the portal and rammed directly into Lights, causing her to stumble into Tooth causing the fairy to lurch backwards and nick Bunny's nose with one of her razor sharp wings.

"Ouch!" Bunny roared. "Watch it!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Bunny!" Tooth fluttered around him, somehow procuring a handkerchief and dabbing at the small scratch.

"I wasn't yelling at you," Bunny assured her, turning is glower to Jack. "I was yelling at _him_."

Jack grinned. "Hey, Bunny."

"Bunny, Jack, you make bad impression!" North boomed, stepping between them. The hulking man smiled warmly at Lights who was just then realizing how huge and… terrifying he really was. "Welcome to North Pole!"

"Whoa…" Lights gulped and nearly let out a squeak of fear when North bent and picked her up in a hug, planting a very whiskery kiss on each cheek.

Sandy drifted forwards next. Above his head appeared a picture of a sleeping child.

"Sarah?" Lights guessed, able to find her voice again. Sandy was extremely nonthreatening compared to the other Guardians. "She's all right, no nightmares since. Thank you, really, thank you so much."

Sandy smiled and bowed to her. And then Bunny came up for introductions.

Suddenly Lights found herself facing a wall of fur. A very tall wall of fur. Slowly she raised her eyes to meet the giant rabbit's.

"E. Aster Bunnymund," he said in a thick Australian accent, holding out a paw.

"Um, Alice… Rose," Lights managed, taking his paw.

Bunny considered her. "I thought Jack said you were Lights."

"She _is _Lights," Jack cut in, coming to Lights' rescue. "And could you all _back up a few feet?_"

His comment was directed mostly towards Tooth who was hovering extremely close, anxious to be friendly.

"Oops! Sorry!" Tooth smiled apologetically.

For the first time Lights noticed the miniature fairies hovering around Tooth. She noted that they looked considerably more birdlike than Tooth. And they were adorable.

Given a little more space, Lights was able to see the grandeur of the space around her. It was massive. Set in the floor was a pedestal with a large blue crystal which reflected the lights around it beautifully. And then she saw the globe.

"Holy snowflakes!" she whispered.

"Holy snowflakes?" Jack echoed. "Since when have you said _that_?"

"Since I've seen massive globes with lights all over them," she responded and walked past him to approach the observation rail. "What is that?"

North stepped up eagerly to play the tour guide. "That is Globe of Belief. Every light you see on that globe is a child who believe in us. We protect them and in a way, they protect us."

Forgetting her shyness, Lights asked the first question she thought of. "Is one of those lights mine?"

"'Fraid not," Bunny jumped in.

Lights looked concerned. "Why's that?"

"Lights… how old are you?" North asked.

"Seventeen."

"Your birthday is when?"

"The first of January."

"So you are almost adult, no?"

"Well, technically speaking," Jack pointed out.

"Hey!" Lights protested. "I'm millennia more mature than you are!"

"This is not question of maturity," North interrupted. "If it were, it does not take much to beat Jack in that category. This is strictly age. When you turn sixteen years old, the Globe does not count you as a child. Your light is no longer there."

Lights looked confused, even worried. "So, it doesn't matter if I believe?"

"Doesn't matter?" Bunny sounded as though she'd proposed the most preposterous idea in the world. "Of course it matters! Light or no light, someone who believes still believes."

"See, Lights, if people don't believe in us, we're completely powerless," Tooth explained.

"Then the Globe isn't completely accurate," Lights pointed out.

There was a brief pause.

"The Globe is… mostly accurate," Jack said at length, leaning on the rail beside Lights. "There aren't a lot of outliers. You might be the only one."

"Oh…"

The news was disheartening. Of course Lights knew most of the kids her age, at least at her school, didn't believe in Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, or Jack Frost but she'd never considered that hardly anyone else did. Why then, should it be so surprising to her? Just the same as it would be surprising for her to learn that none of these legendary figures were real; because she wasn't one to believe in negative alternatives.

"I think it time for grand tour," North boomed.

* * *

North absolutely loved Lights, Jack could see. And it was easy to see why. Lights had the perfect reactions to every aspect of the workshop North showed her. She found the yetis impressive, the elves delightful, and the toys incredible. It was difficult to decide whose eyes were filled with more wonder, North's or Lights'.

The tour ended in North's office where a squadron of elves were painting Christmas ornaments in the style of Easter eggs, being led by a curiously multi-colored elf.

"Aw! Shoo!" North scolded, waving his hands at them. "You disappoint Christmas!"

Lights giggled and kneeled down to get a better look at the elves. The multi-colored one brought forth his ornament for Lights to inspect. Except it wasn't an ornament. It was an egg. An egg that had two tiny, twiglike legs.

"That's… different," Lights commented.

"Still think Christmas is so much better than Easter, mate? 'Cause your elves don't." Bunny was smug. And determined to count this little incident as a victory.

"Um, North?" Tooth asked. She was being careful to not offend anyone. "Shouldn't we have our meeting to discuss the crystal and the event Jack saw?"

North chuckled and clapped a massive hand on Tooth's tiny shoulder. "Ah, yes. You keep me in line, Tooth. We'll go back to the library now. There we will talk. But first, Jack, I want you to take Lights to see the reindeer."

"Aren't they kind of… vicious?" Jack asked.

"Vicious? Bah!" North gave a deep, full belly laugh. "They have spirit!"

"Yeah," Jack cast a glance at Lights who gave him a small smile. "Spirit. Sure."

* * *

"So do you spend a lot of time here?" Lights asked as she followed Jack through the workshop. She couldn't help but notice that some of the yetis seemed to know who Jack was (judging by their grunting and threatening gestures).

"Well, recently yeah. This is the Guardian Headquarters in a sense," he explained. "Besides, this place is pretty awesome."

She laughed and ducked one of the flying contraptions that was circling the base of the Globe. "Understatement of the year!"

Jack shot her a smile. "Glad you like it."

"It's not like it's a complement to you."

"Do you know what is a complement to me?" he asked and then answered his question without giving her a chance. "'Holy snowflakes.'"

Lights blushed and refused to answer him. Instead, she pointedly turned to look at the numerous toys being made by the yetis. Jack stopped walking in front of her.

"So now you're gonna ignore me?" he teased. "Don't you want to see what other surprises this place has?"

She was terrible at fighting the smile that played at the corners of her mouth. "Yes!" she cried and gave him a playful shove to get moving.

* * *

"Holy snowflakes…"

"That's the second time now," he felt the need to point out.

Lights wasn't listening to him, she was entirely distracted by the reindeer who had all peeked their heads out of their stalls when they'd heard people approaching. She walked up to the nearest one and reached out her hand. Jack was about to warn her to be careful when the animal lowered its head and allowed her to place her small hand on its velvety nose.

"Okay, so they like you."

She still wasn't paying attention to him, utterly absorbed with the creature. "They're amazing!"

The reindeer snorted and tossed its head proudly.

"I think he understood you," Jack said, amused.

"Do you know what his name is?" she asked, scratching the reindeer's neck.

Jack pointed above the stall where a nameplate was bolted. "I'm going to have to guess his name's Dmitri."

"Dmitri. Not what I expected."

"Were you expecting eight reindeer with stereotypical names, including Rudolf?" Jack moved to the reindeer's other side to scratch behind his ears. He huffed threateningly at Jack.

"Maybe…"

A bright flash of color in the corner of Jack's eye drew his attention to Baby Tooth who was gesturing back towards the stable door. "Hey, Baby Tooth. Meeting's started?"

She squeaked in confirmation.

"C'mon, Lights."

"You know, I don't think you'll need me at your meeting," she said with her eyes on the other reindeer she hadn't had a chance to meet yet. "I'll just stay here. I mean, I'm not a Guardian anyways."

Jack didn't see any reason to argue with her, so he followed Baby Tooth back to North's library where the other Guardians waited gathered around the crystal.

"… anything like this before?" Tooth was asking when Jack arrived.

"Never," North answered her. "It has been like this for two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Bunny echoed. "You're saying this has been acting weird for two weeks and you didn't bother to let us know before tonight?"

"Bunny, I know you are not busy now but I do not have time to have unexpected guests." Yet another gibe about holidays.

Sandy started up his usual game of charades.

"You think it has something to do with the Man in the Moon?" Tooth guessed.

"Of course it has to do with Manny!" North stated. "Who else could it be?"

"Well are we really gonna find anything out about this by arguing?" Bunny demanded. "Every other time we've seen the crystal it's been because the Man in the Moon's chosen a new Guardian and last time it was this gumbie." He pointed to Jack. "So if it's to pick a new Guardian, why hasn't he chosen yet?"

More charades from Sandy.

"You think that maybe the Man in the Moon thinks we'll need another Guardian but hasn't picked one yet?" Tooth interpreted.

Sandy nodded vigorously.

"Is that possible?" Jack asked. "Would he do that?"

"Man in Moon does many things," North answered. "And we do not always know why."

"So let's focus on what we _do_ know," Bunny suggested. "We know that Pitch is back and that now he's got these crazy skeletons riding around on his Nightmares."

Tooth shuddered and Sandy made a disgusted face.

"Why would Pitch have skeletons?" Tooth asked. Her mini fairies seemed to agree with her.

"Because he's bored of the horse angle?" Jack suggested, taking a seat on a nearby table. "Does anyone know why Pitch does anything?"

"It was good question, Jack," North interjected. "Tooth is right. We must find out _why _the skeletons."

"Well Pitch knows we know about the skeletons," Bunny mentioned. "Jack said it saw them."

Sandy displayed a picture of a skeleton and then two figures.

"Yeah," Bunny answered the unspoken question. "It saw them. Jack and Lights."

Tooth's feathers fluffed. "It saw Lights? With you?"

Jack couldn't explain why he suddenly felt guilty, just that he did. "I wasn't just going to leave her in the dark in the mountains!"

"Jack!" she cried in distress. "Don't you see what this means? Pitch wants to get revenge on us. Last time he held a grudge for two hundred years and this time we didn't just capture him; we sent his own fearlings against him! And you helped!"

"Ya did more than help, mate."

"Exactly!" Tooth continued. "He'll be after you now!"

"I don't see how any of this has to do with Lights?"

North stepped in at that point. "It has to do with Lights because Pitch will use her to get to you."

Jack narrowed his eyes at all of them. "You really think Pitch will be able to make Lights take his side? You don't know Lights at all."

"No, Jack. Pitch would try to hurt her to get back at you." Silence met Tooth's words.

"B-but there, there has to be something we can do!" Jack protested after a moment. He gazed wildly around at all of the Guardians. "What if, what if I stayed away from her?"

"Pitch already knows about her, Jack," Tooth said quietly.

"The more you are seen with her, the greater danger she is in," North told him. "But the more she is alone, the greater the danger."

"So what you're saying is the more I'm with Lights, the more Pitch will want to go after her but when I'm not around her, the better opportunity he has?"

Sandy moved forward to draw attention to himself. The images of a girl, the Guardian symbol, Pitch, a shield, and several others flashed quickly above him.

"Sandy's right," Bunny said in a very decisive tone.

Jack stared blankly at the giant rabbit. "Mind translating?"

"What if there was just always a Guardian with Lights? To keep an eye on her?"

"I can do that." Jack wasn't entirely sure why he was getting defensive. He knew he could protect Lights. It was as if they were implying he couldn't.

Tooth shook her head. "You can't be with her all the time, Jack. You have… responsibilities."

Bunny scoffed. "Responsibilities. He wouldn't know what a responsibility was if it came up and introduced itself."

"Watch it, Kangaroo," Jack warned.

Bunny's ears were flat to his skull. "_What did you call me_?"

"Jack, Bunny," North scolded, once more preventing a fight between the two. "Again, Tooth is right. Jack cannot always be with Lights. We will take turns. Bunny has nothing to do, he can have first shift."

"Oh so just because it's not Easter, you just assume I have nothing to do and I'm free to babysit the overgrown ankle biter!"

Jack's gaze fell on Baby Tooth. "What if we just had someone to keep an eye on her? Someone who can let us know the moment there's trouble?"

"And who does he have in mind?" Bunny asked Tooth, refusing to speak to North or Jack.

"Baby Tooth," Jack answered, making eye contact with the mini fairy with the golden feather. "If she's willing."

Baby Tooth zoomed forward, obviously eager to help in whatever way she could.

Tooth hesitated for a moment. "As long as it's all right with Lights."

"Where is Lights?" North asked, looking around and not finding the human girl anywhere. "You did not lose her?"

"C'mon, North. I can keep track of one girl," Jack said with a tone that dripped with obviously faked offense. "She wanted to stay with the reindeer."

Seeing an opportunity, Tooth took it. "I'll go get her." And before anyone could argue with her, Tooth sped away to find Lights.

She was still in the stable when Tooth found her, having discovered the two little reindeer fawns.

"They're adorable," Tooth said by way of announcing herself.

Lights jumped but smiled when she saw the fairy. "They really are."

Tooth stared openly at the teenage girl before her, wondering if it were possible that Lights could remember her. She decided the best way to find out was to simply ask.

"Do you remember me?" Tooth asked.

Lights looked completely taken aback by the question. "You mean from when Sarah had the nightmare?"

The fairy shook her feathered head. "No, before that. You were very young," she added as a hint.

Now it was Lights' turn to shake her head. "I'm sorry but I don't."

"I guess you were only, what?, four years old at the time."

Lights suddenly looked at Tooth with new intensity. "I was four?"

Tooth nodded.

"Will, will you tell me about it?" Lights asked quietly, pulling one of the reindeer fawns onto her lap in preparation for story time.

Tooth was very much aware that telling the story was no longer optional at this point.

"The accident that killed your parents, do you know much about it?" Tooth began.

Lights closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. This wasn't how she'd anticipated the story going. "Some. I know I was there. We were on our way home from eating out – I don't even remember what restaurant – for my birthday. Well, it was a couple days before my birthday because my dad had to work on my birthday so we were celebrating early. I was in the backseat and it was a head-on collision. They both… they…" She paused to clear her throat. "But I was okay."

Tooth landed in front of Lights on the ground, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You lost a tooth that night. Your right central incisor. When one of my fairies brought it back, she told me about what happened. I went to the hospital that night."

Lights stared at Tooth in wonder.

"You were having trouble sleeping so I just stayed there with you." Tooth gave her a teary smile. "I remember thinking then how brave you were, how sure you were of there being good things in the world, even when you'd just lost everything as a child. I didn't leave your side for four days."

Lights wiped her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered. "I'm sorry I don't remember it. That was the kindest thing anyone's ever done for me." She moved the reindeer aside and hugged Tooth tightly, letting her tears get lost in those jewel bright feathers.

"I lost my parents, too," Tooth said quietly, pulling back so that she could see Lights' eyes. "It was a long time ago, but I understand. That's why I felt like I should be there for you, when you were young." She tucked a lock of Lights' hair behind her ear, picturing the frightened yet brave child she had first met. "Your parents would be proud of you, Lights."

* * *

When Tooth brought Lights back, they both seemed unusually subdued, at least at first. Jack seemed to be the only one to notice the change, but he kept his observations to himself. By this time, it was getting extremely late and Lights would have to leave soon.

"You will leave now," North said, "but you will come back, no? And soon!"

Lights smiled at him. "Maybe next weekend?" she suggested.

"One night?" North asked. "No, is not enough time to truly see the wonder of the Pole."

Lights laughed to herself softly as she looked around the library. "Maybe I'll just get 'lost' over Christmas break…"

"I like that idea," Jack chimed in.

Lights hit him.

"Idea!" North shouted, pointing at Lights who went cross eyed staring at the finger less than an inch away from her nose. "We will write letter to the orphanage saying you have won big fancy trip for the holidays and then, you come here! And!" He looked absolutely thrilled with his own idea. "You will come in the sleigh, Christmas Eve, and help me, in exchange."

Lights stared at him, her mouth slightly open. Her joking suggestion had just formed itself into a plausible reality. How did that happen? "Deal."

"But now, you must go." North picked her up in another bone-crushing hug. "It was a pleasure, Lights. Come back every time you are free." He then set her down, ruffled her hair, and went back to his work. The entire library seemed to vibrate with his footsteps.

"G'day, mate," Bunny said, with a cordial nod in her direction before tapping the floor twice with one of his hind paws to create a tunnel which he promptly jumped through.

"Does he always do that?" Lights whispered to Jack, more than a little amazed.

Jack laughed. "Bunny doesn't really follow the rules of physics."

"Do any of you?"

Sandy made a tiny dragon out of Dreamsand which flew up to Lights and circled her head before soaring off. When she turned back from following its path with her eyes, the little man was gone.

"Goodbye, Lights," Tooth said, smiling gently. "It really was nice to see you again."

"Bye, Tooth."

Okay, Jack had to admit he was a little surprised when the human girl hugged the fairy. Or maybe more than a little but, whatever.

Now it was Jack's turn to say goodbye, since he was the last Guardian left. Well, aside from Baby Tooth whose supervision Lights had agreed to. Baby Tooth hovered near Jack's right ear, still a little cautious about Lights.

"Well," Jack said dramatically. "I guess this is goodbye, kiddo."

Lights caught onto his tone and ignored the "kiddo" comment. "Will I ever see you again?"

"Maybe," he said vaguely, "someday."

Lights lost it. She laughed brightly and hugged him. "So same time next week?"

Jack jokingly shoved her off of him. "What happened to your aversion to people?"

She ignored him. "Same time next week?" she repeated.

Jack couldn't resist ruffling her already ruffled hair. "If not sooner."

* * *

Tooth had been waiting for Jack. It was obvious now that the situation was more serious than she'd realized and she couldn't help but worry about her friend. He was just bound to get himself hurt and she didn't ever want to see anyone she cared about go through that pain. So when she saw him, she cut immediately to the chase.

"Jack," she said, "I don't think you should see Lights anymore."

Jack was too surprised to say anything.

"Not because you'll put her in danger. Just," she held her hands up when he opened his mouth to speak, "let me finish. She's a human, Jack. She'll grow up eventually and she'll stop believing in you. And you'll still be able to see her but she'll just think you were only some figment of her imagination she dreamed up-"

"I will _make _her keep believing if I have to," he growled.

"Fine, Jack. But what happens when she dies?" Tooth demanded, bristling. "What happens when she ages and slowly fades out of the world and all you can do is watch? Or even before that? What happens when she becomes an adult and she can't just pick up and go running around the world with you? When she doesn't have time for you anymore? It'd be hard enough if she were just your friend…"

"Just my friend?" Jack asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I just meant…" She fidgeted. "You never brought Jamie here!"

"Lights is my friend, Tooth. And I'm not going to abandon her just because someday I might-" He broke off and glared at her. "She is my _friend_."

Tooth watched him go with an uneasy feeling. _What had she done?_


	13. Surprises

**This chapter's a little awkward. I'm apologizing now, I struggled writing it and I'm not sure why... Please review! I love hearing your opinions! Seriously, it's really good that there's hardly ever anyone around to see my reaction when someone reviews . I'm going to start taking the time from now on to respond to them all because I ought to and I want to so I'm going to!**

* * *

"LIGHTS!" Jack bellowed. He was standing below her window, staff in hand, the moon shining in all its glory behind him.

He heard her window slide open though her room was dark and he couldn't see her.

"Would you be patient?" her voice called to him through the darkness. "I don't want to freeze! Also, I'm not jumping out of this window. Where are you?"

In a single bound, Jack landed on her window ledge, hitting his forehead on her chin in the process.

She groaned and stumbled away from him into her darkened room. "You've been spending too much time with me," she muttered as she snatched her coat and pulled it on over her sweatshirt.

Jack rubbed the already swollen spot on his forehead ruefully. "I keep forgetting how careful I have to be around you. I've never met anyone else whose clumsiness is contagious."

"How was _that _my fault? You ran into me!" Lights grabbed a handmade scarf and wrapped it around her neck, tucking the ends inside her coat.

Baby Tooth fluttered forward from her perch on the desk and squeaked happily at Jack.

"Hey, Baby Tooth. Girls take forever to get ready to go anywhere," he complained to the mini fairy, watching Lights rush about her room grabbing warm objects and adding them to her outfit. "The other one fell under your bed," he pointed out helpfully as she searched for her lost glove.

"Thanks!" she said brightly, snatching it up and pulling it on. "I should be good now. Ready, Baby Tooth?"

Baby Tooth squeaked her reluctant agreement.

Tonight, Lights was absolutely determined to stay warm, unlike their first excursion. Jack only had one snow globe left which meant the trip out would be freezing.

"Oh, wait!" She dashed over to her desk and grabbed a wooly lump. "Hat! Check!" She caught the curious look Jack and Baby Tooth gave the somewhat misshapen hat. "One of the older girls who used to be here was learning how to knit and she made me this. It's warm."

"Good," he said, anxious to leave. "It's a long trip and I don't want to have to come back for anything. I want to be able to spend as much time as we possibly can there."

"Where is there?"

Jack just grinned in response. There was no way he was ruining this surprise for Lights. This was going to be the best trip of all so far, and he hoped maybe they'd make it again, depending on what they found.

"Let's get going," he urged, crouched in the open window, holding his hand out to Lights. "Hold on," he said, drawing his hand away. "You remembered your leggings?"

She gave him a mildly annoyed look before pulling off one boot to pull up the cuff of her jeans, revealing the navy blue insulation layer. "Yes, mother."

"I was just checking." He ducked as she swatted at him.

"I appreciate your concern, now let's go already!"

Baby Tooth suddenly zoomed away from Jack and hovered in front of Lights, squeaking like mad.

"Yes, it's going to be cold," Lights told her. "I don't know where it is, but it's going to be cold. Do you want to stay here?"

Baby Tooth emphatically shook her head.

"Then you're coming?"

The mini fairy's eyes widened and her whole body trembled involuntarily at the thought of freezing. For all she knew, the two crazies could be going to the South Pole. It wasn't a trip she wanted to make again.

"I know," Jack jumped in. "Since I'm here, what if you took the night off and helped collect teeth? I can keep an eye on Lights for a bit."

The two females had rather different reactions. Baby Tooth looked skeptical and chirped her opinion to Jack. Lights just shot Jack a slightly annoyed look.

"I'm not a helpless child," she pointed out and gave him a shove, sending him tumbling out the window.

Jack managed to right himself just before hitting the ground and drifted back up to her window where she was now sitting on the sill with her feet dangling outside. "You should be nicer to the person who'll be carrying you for the next hour!"

Her face was the perfect picture of innocence. "I'm sorry, Jack."

"Apology accepted, even if you didn't mean it. Now _hurry up_."

Lights grinned at Baby Tooth who rolled her eyes at the two teenagers. "Bye, Baby Tooth! See you later!" And she jumped out of the window and into Jack's arms.

"Well, hello," he said, a little bit surprised by her jumping.

She also seemed to be a little surprised. "Hi," she said, beaming and blushing.

Jack laughed and set her down carefully so that she could reposition herself for the trip. She jumped on his back and giggled. "Come on! I wanna see what the big surprise is!"

"Trust me," he said, leaping into the sky, "you're going to love it."

"Mush!" Lights cried in response.

* * *

"… and do you know how odd it is having Baby Tooth in school?" Lights asked.

Jack could feel her shivering from the wind chill. Her teeth chattered when she didn't keep her jaw clenched but she seemed to be determined to keep talking to seem as comfortable as possible.

"No, I don't."

"You were right about her being great. I don't understand how so much personality can fit in such a tiny thing!" she laughed, shuddered, and involuntarily tightened her grip on Jack. "Since I can't talk to her during the day, I'll write stuff in my notebook. I've been telling her stories and she's been acting out stories for me."

"Sounds like the two of you are getting along well," Jack commented, dodging a wisp of cloud so that Lights wouldn't be soaked. "Did the orphanage get North's letter yet?"

Lights laughed softly. "They got it Monday. Did he tell you what he put in the letter?"

Jack shook his head, unwittingly brushing Lights' face with his unruly hair.

"It says that I've been invited to attend a Christmas Youth Convention open only to a select few. It is to be held at some toy company's headquarters in Washington for the entire duration of my Christmas break with all expenses paid. The brochure said there will be courses on the input that goes into meeting the Christmas demand and plenty of holiday activities."

"Oh, North," Jack chuckled. "At least he did a good job of sounding professional. Are they going to let you come?"

"Yes!" She whooped out loud, her voice caught by the wind and projected out ahead of them towards a very large mass of cloud that was blocking their path. "Is it much farther?"

"Um… maybe."

"Maybe?" she echoed.

"Would you believe me if I said I wasn't entirely sure where I was going?"

Lights groaned. "Unfortunately, yes."

* * *

He had an _idea _of where they were going. He just didn't know the exact location. Or what even would be at that location, he only knew he wanted to take Lights there to find out what those curtains of light in the north really held.

So far, the trip was taking longer than he'd expected but even if he had gotten another snow globe from North, where would it have taken them? The Northern Lights weren't a place.

Lights fell silent. He could still feel her shiver and occasionally she would tap out a pattern on his shoulders with her fingers. Her excitement was palpable. _It can't be much longer now._

Floating on the wind, Jack dove below the surface of the cloud front, nearly skimming the bottom. Lights gasped.

"This is beautiful," she breathed.

Jack chuckled. "It's a cloud, Lights. You see clouds every day."

"Not with my best friend," she pointed out and rested her chin on his shoulder.

As the wind current shifted, her cheek bumped his. She was freezing. Jack was beginning to worry this trip would be pointless and that he had failed his self-set expectations. But soon enough they were past the clouds and there above them in the sky danced the Aurora Borealis.

Waves of green stood before them like a silent, vertical ocean. The lights waved and danced slowly, calmly. Jack found the color familiar before realizing it was the precise shade of green as Lights' eyes.

She was entirely silent, completely in awe of the site before them. It was still a distance off but it was the closest Lights had ever been to her namesake in her entire life. The Northern Lights had always been some distant phenomenon that she caught occasional glimpses of. Now it was a solid reality, like Jack and the Guardians had become to her.

"Wanna get closer?" Jack asked her quietly. He didn't bother to wait for an answer, already knowing what it would be.

"Jack?" Her voice was sharp. "What's that?"

The helpful current of air that had brought them so far, gave out and they tumbled to the ground, landing gracelessly – again – before Jack could pick up on what she was talking about. Her tone set him on edge though, and he held his staff at the ready in case of an attack.

Lights scrambled away from him, her eyes directed upwards at the shimmering curtain. "There! Did you see it?"

He followed where she pointed and thought that maybe he could just make out… _something_. "Wait here, I'll go see what it is."

She grabbed his shoulder. "You are not leaving me here in the middle of a field of snow – no matter how pretty – to go chase something that's up in the sky. What if it's another one of those fearlings? You've got the magic stick. I have…" She held up her hands. "Gloves. I have gloves."

Jack didn't like the idea. If the something was dangerous, it would be safer to leave Lights on the ground. But if the something dangerous had a friend and Lights didn't have any way to protect herself…

"Fine," he said and snagged her by the waist before leaping into the air.

Like the time before (that had ended with the two of them plummeting out of the sky) she wrapped her arms around his neck. She kept her eyes fixed on the lights, trying to catch sight of the moving black spec she had noticed before. It came and went, as though it kept passing through the lights, first on one side and then the other.

"Lights?" Jack said in a funny tone. "Is it just me, or are there a bunch of those things?"

Now considerably closer, she could see that the one black spec was actually several. "Do they have _wings_?"

"You've gotta be kidding me…"

A winged shape had finally noticed their presence and a strange, sighing roar reached them proceeding the thing that had produced it as it winged its way towards the pair.

Lights gasped sharply. "Jack! _It's a dragon!_"


	14. Dragon Fire

**Okay so I have a job at a summer camp meaning I won't be able to update during the week and I may not be able to write much if at all. HOWEVER, this story is going to be continued. Just very, very slowly.**

* * *

"Oh no." Jack took off for the ground, only thinking to get Lights away from the massive beast chasing after them. If necessary, he would hold it off and they'd slip through a portal and to safety.

"Just, don't permanently hurt it, okay?" Lights asked the instant her feet touched the ground. The dragon was still pursing them, though it seemed to be taking its time, circling overhead before coming in to land. It was massive black wings blocked out hundreds of stars.

Jack stood in front of Lights, placing himself between her and the dragon. He had his staff ready but was determined not to attack first.

Lights placed her hands on his shoulders and peaked over him to stare at the black reptile that had come to a halt twenty yards from where they stood. "_I was right_! Dragons are real! And here! Holy snowflakes!"

"Yeah," Jack whispered out of the corner of his mouth. "We've landed in the middle of a flock of dragons. Definitely a good situation."

"It hasn't attacked us yet," she pointed out hopefully.

And she was right. The dragon had made no move towards them, it held as still as a statue, great yellow eyes fixed on them. It looked smaller without its wings unfurled.

"I think its waiting for us to make the first move," Jack whispered over his shoulder to Lights but she wasn't there anymore.

Cautiously, Lights began to cross the no-man's-land between Jack and the dragon. She held her empty hands up in front of her with the hope that the dragon would see her as nonthreatening.

Jack growled. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Don't move." Lights turned her head to look at him. He was on the verge of bolting after her and freezing the dragon for good measure. Just to be safe. But he held still like she'd said.

Luminous green eyes were locked onto feline yellow. Neither the girl nor the dragon blinked as she slowly closed the gap between them until she could feel the dragon's warm breath on her face. It was taller than she was and she had to crane her neck to maintain eye contact. Up close, Lights could see the dragon's scales, all of them so tiny that from a distance they were a seamless, glittering skin.

The dragon opened its jaws, revealing rows of glittering teeth, and let out a puff of fire.

Jack shouted as the fire reached Lights… and didn't burn her.

She blinked slowly at the dragon which hummed as though pleased with itself. The fire had been warm but not hot. And it hadn't looked like flames as much as the dancing lights above them.

"Jack," Lights said quietly.

Within an instant he was by her side, still keeping a wary eye on the dragon.

"The lights are dragon fire," she told him her discovery.

Jack lowered his staff. "So they can't actually breathe real fire?"

The dragon growled and threw back its head to shoot a stream of fire, real fire this time, into the sky.

"I take it back." Jack stared at the creature. "And they understand English."

The dragon looked smug and sat back on its haunches from where it gazed down at the two teenagers, turning its head to the side in curiosity.

"I wonder what its name is," Lights whispered. She was entirely in awe of the dragon.

"We could ask," Jack suggested out of the corner of his mouth. The dragon was still eye him closely and he was worried it might just decide to see how they might react if it dosed them in actual fire, instead of the lights.

"How's it going to tell us?"

"We could find out." Jack cleared his throat. "Excuse me, um, sir?" Jack guessed.

The dragon made a pleasant humming noise. Apparently it was a he.

"Would you mind telling us your name?"

The dragon responded by letting out another jet of fire, causing Lights and Jack to leap apart and out of the way.

Lights stared, round-eyed at Jack over the stream of fire. "Fire. I'm gonna guess his name is Fire."

Fire bugled with joy and lurched forwards, nuzzling at Lights.

"Whoa!" Lights began backing up, the excited dragon advancing towards her until she tripped and fell down.

"Hey!" Jack sprang forward. "Bad dragon, no!"

Fire growled at Jack before continuing to nudge at Lights, forcing her back to her feet.

She laughed brightly. "He's all right just a little-" Fire managed to throw Lights up into the air so that she landed with a huff on his back. "-friendly." Her eyes widened in surprise. "Jack!"

"Hold on, Lights," he said, attempting to edge nearer but catching one of the dragon's wings right in his chest. The blow knocked him backwards and by the time he was back on his feet, Fire was in the air with Lights. "Oh, come on!"

The dragon had a decent head start on Jack but Jack was determined to catch him. Soon he was even with the dragon, almost able to reach out to grab Lights. He held his hand out to her, she saw it, took it, and pulled him onto the dragon behind her.

"What are you doing?!" Jack shouted.

"I trust him," she responded calmly. Fire rumbled happily.

"This doesn't seem safe," Jack called to Lights as Fire climbed higher into the sky, carrying them ever closer to the other dragons.

Lights shushed him. She had dreamed that there might be dragons but she'd never thought she'd meet them, much less ride one. And now she was on the back of a dragon who may or may not be named Fire. With Jack. Because Jack was determined to show her the world.

She turned to thank Jack again but his expression stopped her. He was staring over her shoulder, mouth open, wearing a look of disbelief.

"Lights, _look!_"

She whirled around so quickly she nearly lost her balance and slipped off the dragon's back. Jack, though still distracted, steadied her automatically. When she caught sight of the lights, shimmering brilliantly, she gasped.

The sound of the wind was oddly muted and replaced with the hushed murmur of wings as the cluster of dragons moved throughout the Northern Lights. Even the sound of Fire's wings sounded quieter than Lights had anticipated as they rose and fell. Currents from the dragons' wings stirred the fluid lights and caused them to swirl and tremble like curtains.

Lights reached out to place her hand in the blue-green stream of light. It parted like water around her fingers.

"It's warm!" she said, surprised.

Fire gave a sighing roar that sounded almost amused.

"Oh, right." Lights patted his neck. "It's your fire." She cupped a handful of the light-fire and held it up to Jack as it trickled out of her hands and trailed behind them. "Is it magic?" she asked.

Jack grinned at her. She was absolutely beaming; her wide eyes were constantly in motion in an attempt to take in the entire surreal world around them. He couldn't imagine everything she was feeling at that moment, her dreams were literally coming true. A belief that she alone and no one else – not even the Guardians – had held was entirely _true_.

"Everything's magic, Lights," he told her.

* * *

"I can't believe I was right!" Lights skipped in a circle as they made their way down the deserted street. Jack could've been more specific with the snow globe but he was honestly glad he hadn't been. North was keeping him running constantly, not to mention every time one of Tooth's fairies noticed anything strange, Jack was called on to investigate.

"You were right," Jack agreed.

Lights beamed from under her lumpy hat. "I never actually _really _thought I'd ever see a dragon, you know? And there are hundreds of them!"

Jack laughed. "Maybe not hundreds.

"And the Aurora Borealis is their _fire_!" she ignored him. "I didn't imagine… but it makes sense! But it's not like real fire, obviously."

"Obviously." Jack grinned.

Lights smiled in acknowledgement this time. "It doesn't burn and you can touch it." She glanced at her hand, imagining the gentle warmth of the light-fire. "Does North know? He _has _to know! You told me he uses the lights, right? Then he's got to know. But if he knew, why wouldn't he have mentioned it? Wait a second," she jumped in front of him, striking an interrogative pose, "did you know?"

With a blast of icy wind and his staff, Jack easily vaulted over her. "Nope."

"Does North know then?"

He considered the question for a moment. "I don't think he does. He's not exactly secretive," Jack pointed out.

"And yet no one sees him at Christmas," Lights pointed out. "So he's at least partially secretive."

He chuckled and tapped the pavement with his staff, coating it in a thin layer of ice. "Are you sure?"

"Hey!" Lights cried, slipping on the unexpected ice and only managing not to fall by Jack catching her. "Thanks," she said with a faint blush.

He flashed her a quick, almost nervous smile and let her go quickly. "Don't mention it."

Now being extremely cautious, Lights edged her way forward on the ice-coated road, sliding her feet as though she were wearing ice skates. She even chanced to glide for a few feet and successfully maintained her balance. "So what were you saying? About North?"

Jack blinked, slightly taken off guard. He had been anxiously hovering nearby, ready to catch her if she happened to slip. "Oh, he's- he's not secretive. Didn't I tell you about the night Sandy, Bunny, North, and me collected the teeth?"

"No!" Her eyes lit up with excitement. She loved hearing stories about the Guardians.

"Well, it has to do with Pitch…"

Lights pretended to be frightened. "Oh no! Not Pitch!"

Jack grinned at her and gave her a gentle shove. "Yes, Pitch. He's more dangerous than you would think, you know."

An unwanted image of Sarah unable to wake from her nightmare flashed through Lights mind. "I know," she said quietly.

"I forgot," Jack said, "you would know. Anyway, where was I?"

"Collecting teeth?"

"Yes, collecting teeth. I s'pose the story really doesn't have that much to do with Pitch but it is because of him. You see, he stole all of Tooth's fairies so that they wouldn't be able to collect any teeth."

"And that's bad, yes?" Lights asked.

Jack nodded solemnly. "Yes. Pitch's plan was that kids would stop believe in Tooth when they woke up-"

"Because their teeth would still be there!" Lights interrupted. She blushed, looking sheepish. "Sorry."

"It's all right," Jack said with a lopsided smile. His voice came out softer than usual and he had to clear his throat before continuing. "Ah, um, well, uh, after that whole incident… happened North had the idea that we would collect the teeth instead and no one would ever know that it wasn't the tooth fairies out that night."

"North was seen?" she asked with a grin.

He chuckled at the memory. "He was seen."

* * *

The cloaked figure was always there, waiting for Pitch. Unlike the boogeyman, the cloaked figure's movements were not full of dramatic shadows. He simply appeared, invited or not. And there he was, lingering on even in places he had left.

"You are running out of time," came the voice from under the cloak, surprisingly young. It was a voice full of potential. In an instant it could become harsh and commanding and would revert back to quiet and cajoling as quickly as lightning lit up the sky. But no matter the tone, it was a voice to be obeyed.

Pitch fearfully eyed the figure. Despite the slight movement of the air around himself, the cloak of his companion was completely still. It fell in heavy sheets that entirely obscured the features of the other and Pitch hoped dearly that he would never see the face of Death clearly. "I have plenty of time, master."

Death let out a low growl. Pitch could feel his impatience. "I have waited for three hundred years. A trivial amount of time, it is true, but longer than I should have to wait to regain one of my own."

"Be patient for just a while longer!" Pitch cried, terrified. "Don't forget," he added, suddenly growing angry – angry with Death for his incompetence, his lack of understanding, and angry with himself for his fear, "how many _I _alone have brought you! How many of your clients have been handed over because of me!"

"You cannot touch the ones who do not believe in you," Death said softly. "I affect all."

"And with your help," Pitch continued, "so can I."

"Yes," Death chuckled. It was a sound like the rustle of dead leaves. "That is the agreement."


End file.
